


Corporate Relations

by Diamondeye



Series: Mergers and Acquisitions [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Angst, Drama, Emotional Hurt, Established Relationship, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Foreshadowing, Hurt, Intimidation, Past Lives, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Reader-Insert, Romance, Tension, Vendettas, relationship under strain
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-28
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2018-09-06 07:42:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 34,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8740876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diamondeye/pseuds/Diamondeye
Summary: After a dream Kaiba is concerned for the safety of his girlfriend.  Are Kaiba's dreams a foreshadow of things to come? How will a relationship survive when surrounded by secrets?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys. This is a story I have been working on for a long time (dropping in and out of writing). Really my first big fic. Hoping that posting it online will give me the motivation to complete the story. If everything goes well with this I am thinking of side stories to this main story. Hope you enjoy reading it. *Edit* Hi guys first of a big thank you to all who have been reading this. I have been struggling with this fix for some time now and I believe that it would be best to change the dynamics of it a wee bit. so I have been fiddling about with it and have decided to make it a reader fic. I know there are already some great reader fics out there at the moment ( I adore DragonSilk and Wanderlust3988) so here is my lowly attempt into this world. please please do leave a comment if you read it good or bad as feedback is the best way to know what i'm doing right or wrong. Anyway I think I have rumbled on for long enough so I'll let you go now and get back to reading this fic :)

Pharaoh Seth looked out over his kingdom. He was Pharaoh of the most powerful kingdom in Egypt. It had taken a long time for the countries wounds to heal and to rise from the ashes after Atem's demise. Seth had moved on even though he had not forgotten the sacrifice that Kisara had made. By the next full moon, the marriage between himself and the queen of the western kingdom would be complete. The queen of the once rival kingdom would unite with his. He was for once content. He saw in the distance her royal party coming towards the palace. He smirked, an entertaining evening lay ahead until his eyes caught a glimpse of the dust cloud created by a small group of riders coming from the east. 

He watched in horror as her royal guards tried to battle the attackers. His guards had ridden out to lend support. Overpowered by the number of soldiers the bandits retreated. 

He watched with trepidation as he saw the victorious guards ride towards the palace. He went to greet his new bride as the party entered the palace walls. As he entered the courtyard, the commander of the guards stepped forward to block his progress to her carriage. The carriages curtains were torn and bloody from the battle. "Majesty, please don't look." the commander began. Seth ignored the plea. He dismissed his plea and swept back the fine linen curtain. What he saw was the slashed, bloodied and broken body of his bride, her soulless wide eyes stared up at his.

Seto Kaiba abruptly woke up with a gasp. He was panting wildly, his hair sticking to his forehead and his chest was drenched in sweat. He unsteadily reached out for a glass of water on his bedside table.

He glanced over to his left side. The moonlight spilt in through the window, highlighting your bare shoulder, to him you looked in the silver light to be carved out of marble, he gently reached out to brush a few stray locks of hair away from your face.

He mentally shook himself. It had felt horribly real, like a previous life. That whole nonsense with Yugi and the "Pharaoh" had been years ago, why dream about Egypt now? Why dream about you like that?

A stirring beside him and a muffled voice drew him back " What's wrong, Seto?" He gently shook his head and settled back down in his bed. He wrapped a strong arm around your frame and felt a contented sigh against his chest. It had just been a dream.


	2. Chapter 1 Things are never normal for long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI please leave comments or kudos they both would be loved to bits :) Edited 6/2/18 nothing major just spelling and grammar, I'm going through chapters already up to smooth out some of the wrinkles

Kaiba inspected his face in the mirror with his critical eye. He stretched the skin on his cheek to finish off his morning shave.

He had put the dream last night down to, or more so the location, being caused by the documentary you had both watched last night before bed. It was a show on a female Pharoah that had joined two kingdoms.

You were already in the kitchen, a cup of tea in hand scanning the Financial Times. You noted that a particular someone's corporation had gained more points overnight. At least he wouldn't be complaining about that this morning. However, in comparison your company, Agri Care had dropped. You had expected that. It was caused by rumours of bankruptcy in another company that you had a partnership with. It would pick up again soon. After all, you were in the process of signing the forms which would allow a seamless takeover and would merge the company with Agri Care.

You glanced up to see a dishevelled teenage Mokuba slump into the kitchen. He grabbed a slice of toast and flopped down on a nearby seat. Seto followed shortly afterwards dressed in a dark navy suit. He pecked your cheek and snagged the paper out of your hands.  
"I thought you would be gone already, don't you have a morning conference call or something?"

"Good morning to you too Seto." you sighed finishing the last of your tea "Unfortunately I do, you still able to make lunch."  
"Hmm," he raised his head from the paper and received a kiss on his lips that he thought was unfortunately over too quickly. Mokuba made a gagging noise that received a smirk from you as you snatched up your Aston Martin keys.   
"Really bro, this early in the morning." Mokuba playfully commented.  
"Just get to school."  
"Sure thing, can I cadge a lift with you?" He asked you jumping up and grabbing his backpack.

***

"Isono, what's the security status of ‘The Dragon' and the ‘Dragon Lady?" Isono smirked internally. It was typical of his employer to know the secret code names that security had christened them.   
"Sir, currently the security level for." he cleared his throat in embarrassment " the 'dragon lady' is at a yellow status, as is yourself."

Kaiba nodded and steepled his fingers. Isono knew from the years of service that internally the young man was uneasy.  
"'Sir. Agri Care has one of the best security sections in the city. Her head of security is one of the most respected…" Kaiba put a hand up to silence Isono's attempt to comfort him.  
"Thank you Isono, but could you communicate with him to recheck the threats, if any, on her."  
"Yes, sir." Isono nodded his head. Realising that the meeting was over. He took his leave to follow-up his employer's request.

Kaiba sighed to himself. He pulled his chair closer to his desk and proceeded with reviewing the new prototypes sent to him by R+D. He put his worries to the back of his mind. Isono would ensure that the request would be followed up.

He had spent the last hour reviewing R+D's proposals, and the results were disappointing. He turned to the final report. It was a report on proceedings regarding a new project the two of you had undertaken. It was for the development of his solid image technology to combine with Agri Care's veterinary scanners. They looked promising.

Kaiba turned around and stared out the window down on Domino City. He felt oddly sentimental this morning. He reflected on how your two paths had crossed.

He had desperately wanted to quash the association that had recently claimed that Kaiba Corporation was only a "glorified gaming company" as some recent publications had announced. It had annoyed Kaiba considering he was researching options on how to expand the use of his holo-technology into other areas.

As coincidence had it, He had recently agreed to a meeting with an Agricultural / Veterinary company that had a similar view of using the technology.

When it had come to the meeting to discuss the applications of his technology. He had expected disappointment. He had seen the background check data about Agri Cares CEO, she had seemingly been a champion show jumper and had amassed enough money from winning various titles to set up the company which had quickly expanded. The picture that he had found showed she was European. She had listed her nationality as British.

That first project had been hugely successful for your two companies and had amassed a significant amount of money and positivity for Kaiba Corps introduction into a new industry. That paled in comparison to what he had gained with the new relationship.

The bing of his intercom brought him back to reality "Sir, the limo is waiting for you to take you to your lunch meeting."

***  
When he entered the restaurant, you were already waiting for him. You glanced up as he came closer, a soft smile played on your lips. He leaned down and placed a quick kiss on your cheek.

"You look very pleased with yourself," you commented, and he took his seat.

"Ha, and there I thought I looked the same as always," he said as he lifted a menu.

"Oh but you see I'm very apt at studying both Kaiba's subtle moods," Seto smirked at the slight jibe

‘It concerns our collective endeavour."

Lunch progressed, and Seto thought back to all the mindless dinner dates that he had in the past endured. However, with you, it was completely different. You could hold an intelligent conversation. You were both finishing with coffee. You were discussing your plans to attend some show jumping events at international level which meant that you would soon be preparing to leave as the season was beginning.   
"I am only going to do a few international shows; I won't be competing in any of the events that my company is providing sponsorship. My record will stand regardless. I have ju…." you trailed to a stop as your gaze turned towards the window. Your blood ran cold as you thought you recognised a person staring straight at you through the window.

Seto called your name concerned. You smiled briefly. "It's nothing, just thought I saw someone. Honestly, Seto, it's all right."

Seto decided that it was probably a star-struck passerby. You both had your fair share of fans following you and the paparazzi trying to sneak a money shot of 'Domino's power couple'.

"Mokuba asked this morning if he could come down to the stables after school," you said trying to steer the conversation back to normal.

Seto heaved a long sigh "You know what I think of the two of you and horse riding. It's just so dangerous."

You bristled at his comment "I was world champion, I have taught Mokuba from the start, and Mokuba is a good rider. He has a great potential to go farther if you let him."

"I know all that. It's just that, I …"  
You cut in "Worry! I've heard this speech before Seto." you softened as you saw the concern in his eyes "Look I'll take care of Mokuba, but you have got to let the kid live a little."

Seto smirked slightly in acknowledgement. You both had this discussion to the point of ad nauseam on many occasions about the dangers of horse riding and Mokuba's safety. Mokuba had found that he had a talent for riding and had begged and pleaded with Seto to continue.   
Seto sighed "Ok, you can tell him I don't mind him going to the stables."

 


	3. A Wise Women Wishes No One's Enemy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank you to anyone that has read this story and a big thank you to all those that have left kudos <3<3 Just I note I think I should mention it's a small thing but some find it a bit of a bug bear (I know I do at times) is that I will be writing in British English :) Hope you all like the new chapter. Edited 11/2/18 for spelling and grammar

Seto returned to the mansion late that evening. The house was silent. You and Mokuba still hadn’t returned. He removed his coat and placed his briefcase in the home office. He noticed a file on the desk. It was not a file belonging to Kaiba Corp. his curiosity got the better of him. He opened the buff folder; it had a cover note with a foreign government seal. His trained eye quickly scanned down the letter. It was a very lucrative deal! He closed the file a wave of guilt sweeping over him. If the tables were reversed, he would be annoyed if you were reading his documents he'd be mad as hell.

He rolled his shoulders, the stress of the day had made them tight. He went into the bathroom attached to his bedroom for a shower. The hot water pounding his shoulders was slowly working on releasing the tension. He turned his face up towards the spray of water. A perfectly manicured hand glided over his chest, and a soft kiss was placed between his shoulder blades stilling him.  
“I didn’t know you were that desperate for a shower," Seto turned and saw you smirking up at him. Your naked body wet and pressed against his.  
“It was more like I was desperate to see you,” you smirked as Seto leant down to capture your lips, tentatively at first but growing more hungry, his hand slid down your body. He pulled you flush against him you could feel his arousal. You pulled back slightly panting. You were intoxicated by him and stepped forward wanting more. Suddenly to Seto your image changed to the soulless eyes from the past. He mentally shook himself and stumbled out of the shower. He left you standing under the spray of the water in total confusion.

When you came out of the bathroom wrapped in a large fluffy towel, Seto was perched on the side of the bed a towel wrapped around his waist. His head in his hands. To you, he looked, as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders. You climbed onto the bed behind him and started to rub his still damp shoulders gently. The taut muscles under your hand were warm and firm.  
“Do you want to talk, you know I’m a pretty good sounding board.” Seto shook his head. How could he possibly tell you that his worry was repeatedly seeing someone who looked very like you dead? You continued your soft ministrations. They felt like heaven to Seto's body. “Lie down on the bed Seto,” you whispered into his ear, he complied easily. You grabbed some baby oil from the bathroom and warmed some of the liquid in your hands. You returned to Seto's back and slowly started to trail your fingertips down his back. His muscles twitched at your touch, he reminded you of a sensitive thoroughbred as his muscles twitched under your hands. You started rubbing large circles across his back. You could feel the tight knots that were within the firm muscles. You looked on his back, and the faint marks of previous scarring ingrained into his skin. It had taken a long time for Seto to trust you with such a sight and you knew how much it had meant when he had first allowed you to see him shirtless. You found a knot that you began to administer to making him unintentionally groan in pleasure.  
“I know you haven’t been sleeping well, darling. Is it something at Kaiba Corp.?” you murmured in his ear as you continued stroking his back. Seto let out a soft grunt muffled by the pillow. Better let you think it was something at Kaiba Corp. rather than explain his fear of losing you. After long minutes of pleasure, Seto felt his body being gently pulled down and his eyes growing heavier with each passing moment. You had shifted back up towards his shoulders. You leaned over your breath tickling his ear as you whispered: “Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown*.”  
He smirked at the quotations. At least you understood the pressures of his job. You continued to rub his back until you felt his breathing even out indicating that he finally had given into sleep. You carefully got off the bed knowing how light a sleeper Seto was. You closed the door on your sleeping dragon.

You found Mokuba downstairs still in his jodhpurs and riding boots.  
“Where’s Seto?” he asked through a mouthful of crisps.  
“I put him to sleep.”  
“Did you now!" Mokuba smirked waggling his eyebrows.  
“Mokuba Kaiba! Get your mind out of the gutter! I just gave him a back rub.”  
“Whatever you say, I believe you.” He smirked  
***  
Seto felt the dry heat of the desert, but there was a cooling breeze that tossed his hair. His eyes fluttered open. He looked down to see in his arms was your likeness peacefully asleep. There was a commotion outside the room. You awoke as the Thief King burst in sword drawn.  
“We meet again priest, or I should say Pharaoh now.” He advanced with a devilish smirk.  
“Long live the King!" as he lunged towards the Pharoah. Seto closed his eyes waiting for the blow to come. Seto opened his eyes to see you impaled with the sword, blood blooming out from the wound. You took the hit for him as the royal guards wrestled with the Thief King. Seto held you in his arms as the life energy slowly left your body.

Seto rolled over to the empty side of the bed and jerked awake. He instantly looked towards your side of the bed, empty. He willed his racing heart to slow at the panic that was slowly rising in him. He got out of bed in search of you.

Seto went towards the media room as he heard the TV was on. He leant against the doorframe. Mokuba was curled up on the sofa leaning against your side. You were quietly talking on your phone so not to wake him. Balanced on your lap was a tablet and in your other hand was a glass of red wine. Seto glanced at the bottle sitting on the table; it was nearly empty. He caught a snatch of the conversation. “I’m worried …it was him … No, I am not fucking overreacting! Just do what I told you to and keep me posted with any information.” you ended the phone call and pinched the bridge of your nose. You looked the picture of misery. He cleared his throat to make his presence known. Your head whipped round and slowly you smiled at him. “You get some sleep, darling?”

“I did, are you going to tell me what's wrong?” he asked as he took a seat.  
“Who says anything is wrong?” you said innocently.  
"That nearly empty bottle of wine. it's not like you to drink that much?”  
You made a scoffing sound. "I wouldn't be so sure about that," you muttered. True you had not drunk very much in Seto's presence, but then you hadn't needed the numbing effects of alcohol on your thoughts for a very long time. The movement of your body roused Mokuba from his doze. He sleepily looked around the room, Seto said evenly “Mokuba go to your room we’ve something to discuss in private.” Mokuba’s eyes widened. He knew from experience that it was a tone that was not to be disobeyed. While Mokuba made to leave the room, Seto sat and stared at you in silence. It was the stare he used to intimidate his employees. “I’m waiting.”  
“Seto it’s nothing I can't handle,” you answered followed by a large gulp of wine. He continued to stare you down. Your eyes couldn't hold his intense gaze, and you looked away. Sighing heavily you relented. ‘ Shit … alright.” you unlocked the tablet and handed it over to Seto.

It opened at a news page. The headline read “Crime boss, Cahill released early.” He quickly scanned down the article. Cahill had served time in prison for several charges including tax evasion, fraud, intimidation, and drugs trafficking. Seto looked up at you confused. “Remember at lunch. I thought I had seen somebody?'

“Him? This Cahill?”

you snorted “No, Cahill’s too smart for that, but it was one of his little lackeys.”

“Why would he be interested in you?”

“You know I had other jobs before I began Agri Care, well when I was an animal welfare enforcement officer. He was one of my biggest cases.” you stopped to take another sip of your drink, Seto noted the slight tremor in your hand “I investigated and brought him to court. He was smuggling drugs into the country in different animals stomachs. My investigation opened up to allow the police to investigate other charges. When he was found guilty, he vowed because I didn’t back down from his threats before or during the trial he would 'make me pay.' You have no idea how far he’ll go."

Seto sat silently for a minute trying to take it all in. Eventually, he said, “I’ll sort this out.”

“Seto, No! You don’t need to be dragged into my mess. It will be my battle to fight. Anyway, it could have been anyone outside the restaurant, mistaken identity." you finished trying as much to convince yourself as well as him.

There was the start of a bubble of anger deep in Kaiba's stomach at the thought of someone threatening you.

That night after climbing into bed you wrapped yourself around Seto's chest that little bit tighter than previous nights. Seto did not comment on it. He gently traced circles on your upper arm, each silently lost in your thoughts. It took a long time until you drifted into sleep. Seto held you close and watched your now peaceful face in sleep. He was eventually starting to drift off himself when a soft buzzing started; it instantly turned to a ringtone. Seto nudged you awake to answer it. You cracked an eye open. “God damn it; I’m not on-call tonight,” you grumbled as you reached for the phone.

“This better be good!’ You hissed into the phone; which was immediately replaced with a panicked tone “WHAT! Shit, are there any injuries?” you continued jumping out of bed “No I’m on my way.” you hung up swiftly and started to get dressed.

“What’s happened?” Kaiba questioned

“Down at the docks, there’s been an explosion!”

* King Henry the Fourth, Part Two, by William Shakespeare.


	4. The Curtain Rises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment, reviews, kudos anything would be adored! <3 let me know what you think so far. edited 11/2/18 for spelling and grammar

“What’s happened?”

“Down at the docks, there’s been an explosion!”

You hastily pulled on a pair of jeans “I've gotta get down there.”

“I’m coming with you,” Seto said calmly.

“No Way!” you protested hotly, as you grabbed open the drawer of your night side table and produced a Glock 42 handgun. Your mind running a hundred miles an hour thinking about what had happened. You double checked the magazine, amazed at how steady your hands were and placed the gun in the waistband of your jeans behind your back.

“You are in absolutely no state to be driving anywhere in case you had forgotten." he countered icily “I’m not going to let you deal with this alone.”

You sat in the front of Seto’s car in silence. Seto gripped the steering wheel hard. He kept firing quick glances your direction as he drove. You had no idea of this as your starred out the window. You were thinking about what you would be confronting and remembering all the times in the past that you had been present at these sort of scenes. You had thought you had left this type of thing behind you. You feared that your PTSD would start to flare up, it had taken you so long to overcome it. You bit your lip hard in thought; you could taste the slight tang of iron.

When you reached the dockside, it was a hive of activity. There were some journalists and bystanders crowded around a police cordon. Beyond that, an Agri Care warehouse door, beside the pier, lay buckled with metal debris scattered around. The smell of melted plastic, a burning sickly smell of chemicals and smoke still filled the air. A 40-foot lorry had been backed up at the loading bay, the back part of the trailer had buckled and bent from what looked to be the blast, it was still slightly smouldering. There was a cluster of people in uniforms inspecting the wreckage. Others in forensic suits were busy working on the truck taking pictures. Glass and metal debris littered the area.

As both Seto and you exited the car, you were bombarded with questions and flashlights from the media. You raised your voice above the questioning to be heard “At this time I will not be commenting, there will be a full press statement when all the facts have been gathered. Until this time I’m sure you will respect the privacy of the employee’s, and their families, that have been affected.”

Kaiba raised the police cordon, and you both ducked under, leaving the swarm of reporters firing questions. A man came towards them wearing a dark suit, as he neared Seto realised that it was Stan, the head of Agri Cares security.

“Boss you should not be here!” he spluttered

“Where else would I be? Now, what happened?” you barked out incensed.

“Domino police and the harbour police aren’t sure what has happened.” He dropped his voice “I think the two of us have seen enough of these scenes in the past to know it's an IED job, most likely made with Semtex.”

“Hmm, what about casualties?” you queried

“There were two, the driver and the warehouse operator. They are on their way to the hospital, their injuries are not life-threatening, " He was interrupted by the crackle of Stan’s radio. You reached over and grabbed the radio out of Stan’s hand. “All units this is Midnight Dragon (your old code name that you still carried in radio convos,) request radio silence. We have a code black, repeat code black, radio silence until further notice. Out.” you placed the radio on your belt beside your hidden weapon. Kaiba grimaced at the mention of code black as it was for a bombing procedure. You turned towards Kaiba, "I'm going to speak to the officer in charge. This looks like Cahill's usual handy work."

“About the officer in charge boss, he claims to know you.” Stan interrupted. You remained silent, and Stan continued “He’s a DI Fagan. He arrived in Domino yesterday on secondment to assist the police department here.”

You nodded your understand and sighed heavily. You could not remember ever having met a DI Fagan, but then again you tried your hardest to forget most of your past. You walked towards the small cluster of police at the far corner of the yard. Seto fell into step beside you and whispered: “You believe this is a bombing ?”

“All the evidence points towards it, yes,” you confirmed lowly. "the curtain rises on this little show."

As you came closer to the huddle of police one man raised his head and broke away from the group. “Ma'am, I'm Detective Inspector Fegan” he quickly flashed his ID badge. “sorry that this meeting couldn’t have happened under better circumstances. It’s a pleasure meeting you, at last, I’ve heard many stories about you.”

“I’m sure the stories all grew in the telling of them, this is Mr Kaiba, my partner.” Fegan extended his hand to Kaiba. When the niceties were exchanged, you asked what line the police were going to take. They were treating the incident as an attempted murder and believed it was an intimidation tactic used by the Yakuza.

You discussed that you felt there was a different gang behind the attack. During the discussions between you and the police, there was a crackle on the radio, on your belt. Then came the eerie sing-song voice ‘Some say the devil is dead, the devil is dead, the devil is dead, more say she rose again, rose again, rose again and is known as Midnight Dragon! This is only the beginning! Worse is to come!” Then the radio went dead.

xxx

You had a pulsing headache behind your eyes. You were exiting your elevator after having just come from an early morning press conference and immediately followed that up with an emergency meeting with the board of directors about the bombing at the docks. Several were calling for you to step down. Your executive assistant, Mai Valentine looked up at the ding of the elevator. She handed over a stack of letters to you as you passed her desk.

“Do I have any other meetings today Mai?”

“No, although Mr Kaiba did ring, he asked if you could call him back,” Mai told you.

You thought it strange that Seto just didn’t ring your mobile. You rung Seto's office and sat down on your leather seat. You decided to tag the button to put it on speakerphone and began opening the stack of letters. Kaiba’s assistant answered the line. “Kaiba Corporation Mr Kaiba’s office.”

“Hello Emily, I missed a call from Mr Kaiba. Is he free now?” you queried scanning down a very uninspiring thank you letter.

“One-minute Miss, Mr Kaiba said he wasn't to be disturbed, but he may make an exception,” Emily said instantly recognising your voice. While you listened to some uninspiring hold music, you got through two more letters. You were on the third letter which was an invitation to a business dinner when Kaiba came on the line.

He called your name with some concern "What's wrong? Why’d you call me?”

“Mai said you called her while I was in a meeting?” you said as you continued to pursue your mail coming across a small package.

“No I didn’t ring your office, if I wanted you, I’d of called your mobile.” he said annoyance lacing his tone.

“Well, that did cross my mind but I….”. You tore open the package and dumped the contents on the table. Your world stopped moving. Your body drained of all the warmth it had, and your lungs could barely take in any oxygen. You gasped trying to fill them. Your brain didn't register the noise coming from the speakerphone. You felt your knees weaken and a cold sweat come over you. Seto could hear the uneven breathing down the phone. He called out to you and heard nothing to his repeat calling, and then he heard a mumbled “Oh shit! No!’ There was another small whimper then a long silence on the line, Kaiba called your name several times. He could only hear your breathing becoming more erratic on the other end.

“Talk to me now!” He demanded

There was a small whisper down the phone “Seto, I need you.” Kaiba had jumped out of his chair in a flash leaving the phone hanging by the cord.

Kaiba raced across the city as fast as he could. He had never heard you sound so weak and vulnerable before and it stabbed deeply at his heart. When he got to the building, it took all his composure to walk across the atrium without looking panicked. Everything around him seemed normal so far. It continued when he got out of the elevator, and he saw Mai calmly at her desk. He demanded fiercely, "What happened?"

“What’s wrong Kaiba?” Kaiba ignored her question and burst into your office.

You had collapsed into your chair drawing up your legs and pulling them tight with your arms. Your nails dug into your forearms. Your chest felt so tight, and you couldn't get your breathing under control. You couldn't see, everything looked dim like you had a fog descend round you, and you could swear you heard voices of men begging and screaming in pain.

Kaiba stood stock still and realised that you were trembling slightly. You looked deathly pale, and your eyes were drilling holes into the small pile on your desk.

Kaiba approached your desk cautiously and whispered your name tentatively at first. You didn't register that you heard him approaching. You flinched when he placed his hand on your shoulder as if an electric shock shot through you. He looked over at your desk. There were different photos scattered over your desk. Some of you that looked recent, there was ones of a much younger you in a group photo with other men, above it was a date and ‘welfare and enforcement team’. There were other pictures of you with Seto and Mokuba together. All the photos had a dark red cross over your face. There were pictures of what looked like autopsy photographs and others of mutilated bodies. There was a typed note saying in red capitals “YOUR DAYS ARE SHORT”. There was also a bullet sitting on your desk he picked it up. Your name had been scratched onto its case.

He dropped the bullet back onto the table and turned to you. He kneeled down to be eye level with you. You still had a glazed look in your eyes; you were visibly shaking and your breaths now coming out in pants. He tentatively placed his hand on your forearm. You flinched at his touch. “It’s me.” He said gently. Slowly your eyes turned towards him. A chill ran down his spine, he had seen that dead look in your eyes before, but that was in his dream.

You were still panting and gasping trying to breathe; you couldn't breathe you felt like there was no oxygen left in the air. You didn't realise what was happening; there was no oxygen left you felt a paper bag being placed over your mouth. You tried to resist, you had to stop it, you needed to breathe, but you heard Seto's voice filter through to you. "Your hyperventilating! You need to breathe slowly into the bag. Stop panicking, I'm here, I'm here." you gradually became more and more aware of your surroundings, your wild, terrified eyes looked into deep cerulean eyes and saw the sincere look in them. "That's it, good girl, slowly in through your nose and out. You're ok now, I'm here," he said in a soft, quiet voice. You felt yourself slowly returning, to feel more human, and place a hand over his. Seto lowered the bag from your face. There was a ghost of an inclination on his lips from Seto at the subtle sign that you had gave him that you had come back out of your head. You could feel the burn of unshed tears on your eyes “I’m dead Seto.” you whispered, “I thought they would leave me alone.” A large tear rolled down your cheek. The dam had burst now tears started to stream down your cheeks unchecked. Kaiba gathered you up into his arms. Your arms automatically went around his neck and clung to him like a lifeline.  
You wrapped yourself around him and allowed him to carry you. He sat down on the sofa in your office you could feel him rubbing circles on your back as you continued to sob. Your sobbing was causing your conversation to descend into unintelligent noises. Seto picked out several words over and over including, dead, sorry and my fault. You curled as close as you could to him as your hands gripped tightly to the lapels of his jacket. You breathed in the mixture of his scent and cologne; it slowly soothed you. After quite some time your sobs slowed eventually drying and sniffing you glanced into Seto's face. Your eyes must have been severely bloodshot. You knew that you would be suffering from a terrible migraine tonight. You didn't care, at the minute you would welcome the pain compared to this unfeeling numbness that you felt.

“You feel better?” He winced at the stupidity of the question. He was aware that you would not be feeling very well for some time now. You shrugged your shoulders; you honestly didn't know how to answer. Seto moved you off his lap, so you were sitting on the sofa and got up. He buzzed through to Mai.

“Yes, Ma'am?’

Kaiba spoke into the speaker “Mai get me a strong tea with plenty of sugar and then get the head of security up here immediately.”

“Yes, Mr Kaiba anything else?” Kaiba ignored the sarcastic tone to her voice as he replied that was all.

Mai knocked the door before entering with a tray. Kaiba met her at the door and took the tray from her and slammed the door in her face. Mai shook her head at his rudeness. It was typical Kaiba behaviour.

Kaiba sat the tray down on the table and poured you a cup of tea and added several spoonfuls of sugar. “I know you probably don’t want this but please just drink this.” He coaxed handing you the cup. He didn’t comment that the surface of the liquid betrayed how unsteady you still were. He removed his suit jacket and draped it around your shoulders; you pulled it closer around you as if it would shield you from everything. Kaiba sat beside you pulling you closer to him and wrapped his arm around your shoulders. He quietly coaxed you to drink even if it was tiny sips until there was a second knock at the door.

Kaiba stayed seated and called knowing his voice would carry. Stan opened the door in confusion. He took in the scene of Kaiba with his arm wrapped around you on the sofa. You still looked deathly pale even by your standards. “Boss?” he asked in confusion.

Kaiba answered for you “On her desk!” He tilted his head towards the bureau. Stan inspected the material. When he was finished, he seethed “Those bastards! Of all the fucked up mind games to play.”

Kaiba snarled “ What?!”

He ignored the question and came round the desk. He knelt in front of you. “Boss, you know their tactics, don’t let them get to you so early on.”

“I knew that this would happen,” you whispered, "that they would come for me."

“That sounds like you have given up,” Stan said

“It’s not the same now, maybe it's fitting, especially after the last operation that we…”

Stan interrupted you. His voice rising “Don’t you dare blame yourself for what happened to Roberts and Phillips. None of us could have known that there were booby traps in the sheds.”

“I gave the orders, I sent them in there, just look at the pictures of them. They are dead because of me!” your voiced strengthen with anger at the memory of what happened. "They had a young family, and I told them to go in there."

“I know. Don’t you think that those particular photos, those post-mortem photos, were added to the package knowing how they would affect you? Are you going to sit there and just accept that they have passed a death sentence on you so easily? If you are, then you are not the woman that I knew. You are not the commanding officer that Roberts and Phillips followed and respected without question anymore. Snap out of this right now!” Stan bellowed in rage "Don't let their deaths be for nothing!"

“Enough!” Kaiba raised his voice.

Stan snapped his head to Kaiba and narrowed his eyes. Kaiba glared at Stan. His voice was deathly quiet. “You’re her head of security. What are you going to do about this?”

“Whatever course she decides Sir, I have followed her orders before, and I’ll follow them again. However, this mollycoddling right now is not helping.”

Kaiba felt you tense your shoulders and with a shaky voice said “Stan’s right Seto." as you gathered your voice “I’m just playing into their hands if I lie down and accept this.”

Stan’s lips quirked the defiance in your voice was something he was familiar with. “What course of action shall we take boss? I can set up Operation Barricade at its highest level.”

“I think that would be wise, the highest security precautions for all Agri Care properties from this moment on. I do not want any harm to come to my employee’s.” you turned to Seto “Isono should come by as soon as possible. He should know what to expect down the road.”

“I’ll notify him, with Mr Kaiba’s permission,” Stan said Kaiba nodded his approval. Stan took the cue that he was dismissed and left the room to put the orders into action.

With Stan's exit, your shoulders sagged once more. “I’ve been a fool to think I could escape my past; It catches up with us all in time.”

“Our past defines what we have been, but it is how you build your future. That's what matters.” Kaiba said

"This is my burden to shoulder Seto," you said softly

Kaiba shook his head. “No, ever since we got together your burdens are my burdens, and right now, your burdens are more important to me.”

You looked into those deep pools of blue and saw the sincerity in them. It touched you deeply; you could feel tingles run down your arms and legs. Suddenly it felt like your energy was being drained out of you. You were slowly feeling the pull of gravity towards the ground before you felt your body make contact with the carpet you fell into a blackness that enveloped around you. You vaguely thought you heard your name being called.


	5. Surprise Diagnosis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited 15/2/18

You registered that you were gently being shaken, you groaned and tried half-heartedly to swat whatever it was away. You cracked open an eye. Seto bent over you. You took in your surrounding confusedly, you opened your mouth to speak, but Seto cut you off. "You blacked out on me, and I took you home. Dr Kormu is outside I want him to check you over," he told you in a hushed tone.  
You groaned in annoyance "I am fine." you said your voice cracking, making you sound anything but fine.

The look of anguish on Seto's face when you looked fully up at him worried you. He sighed your name. "I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. No discussion." he took the few steps towards the door and beckoned the doctor in.

You raised yourself up and propped yourself up with pillows. Trying to look a little more dignified and in control. The fatigue deep in your bones made your limbs feel heavy. The gradual increase of a pulsing pain in your head from the moment Seto woke you spiked with your movement. You took a sip of water from the glass on your bedside table and cleared your throat. "Really Doctor, this is a wasted journey, Seto has called upon you for no reason."

The doctor chuckled and said your name affectionately. "Well, it never hurts to have a check-up now and then. Although I must say, I have seen you looking a lot better than what I see now." giving you a somewhat fatherly look.

Kaiba growled from the door. "You blacked out on me; You had a panic attack, hyperventilated then blacked out what of that suggests you are fine?"

You shot a glare at Seto for his comments but no doubt in your state it severely lacked the usual dangerous edge.

"Now, now both of you stop it, Mr Kaiba could you go and request that some tea is brought up." The doctor broke in on the glaring contest. Kaiba snorted but left. The doctor still chuckling turned to you.

"Now my dear, may I examine you, if not for your benefit I'm sure it will put Mr Kaiba's poor mind at ease." You relented to the request. Slowly the doctor checked you over and asked you several questions. You flinched at the cold feel of the stethoscope on your chest. "sorry, breathe in ....and out....and again."  
Next, he took your blood pressure; you watched as his forehead furrowed in concentration. He took a small light from his shirt pocket. He flashed it across your eyes and gently pulled down your lower eyelids. You blinked rapidly trying to rid your view of the stars that danced in front of your eyes. When your eyes cleared, the doctors face looked more concerned. You saw that in his hand he held a thermometer, "If you don't mind, under the tongue please." you rolled your eyes but willingly complied. At that moment you heard the door open. Seto came in carrying a tray with everything needed for tea.

"Ahha, just in time Mr Kaiba, excellent, if you wouldn't mind being Mother, I'm sure a cup of tea is greatly needed by this young lady." the doctor ordered upon spying Kaiba. Kaiba busied himself preparing the tea as you liked it. The doctor then turned towards you. "Now, I would like to take a blood sample if you don't mind, my dear." you heard a sharp clink of china and gave a quick glance in its direction "oh it's nothing for anyone to be overly concerned about."

"No, of course, I don't mind," you replied as you extended you forearm. "You obviously think something is wrong though. Doctor?"

"I do, yes. How have you been managing your stress levels, do you feel a headache, or rather a migraine is coming on. You flinched quite visibly to my flashlight." he spoke as he tightened the tourniquet around your arm.

"Yes I have a slight headache, you're deflecting, " you said watching his face. Seto came over carrying a cup and saucer for you. He placed it on the nightside table and climbed on to the bed wrapping his hand around your free one.

"I will know more once I have run some tests my dear, but I hope I'm not too premature in this but when was your last period? I believe you are slightly anaemic and you may be..." he glanced between your and Seto's faces "pregnant given the symptoms."

The only sensation you felt was Seto's hand tighten around yours. You could hear the blood rushing in your ears. You did not just hear that word. You couldn't be! You realised that the doctor had continued talking, "... it's very early on possibly just five weeks. Where you both trying for a child?" you shook your head. "I've been so careful. I'm on the pill... I" tears burned your eyes, you felt the dampness on your cheeks. "Seto I'm sorry I didn't mean for this, don't be angry with me, please. If you want me to go, I'll understand"

"Of course this is not confirmed yet. The blood sample will confirm it one way or another. I will run the test immediately for you once I get back to my surgery."

You were numb, you sat on the bed and had no words Kaiba pulled you into him and shushed you. "It's ok; everything will be ok, I promise."

"Drink the tea my dear, and then try to get some more rest." the doctor said patting your knee under the covers. "Mr Kaiba may I talk with you in private." Kaiba nodded and placed a gentle kiss on your hairline before leaving to follow the doctor.

Kaiba closed the bedroom door and looked at the doctor. His face was taunt as he waited for the doctor to speak "I take it my news has come as a shock to you both."

Kaiba hummed his agreement. "What about her health how is it? The ... the pregnancy it will not...harm her in any way? Whatever happens, you must put her health before everything else Doctor." there was a note of desperation that seeped into Kaiba's voice ever so slightly.

"Seto calm yourself, she may be slightly anaemic but nothing that a few iron supplements and rest can not cure. However, she must modify her lifestyle somewhat, proper meals, proper sleep and reduce the stress."

"No! Doctor, please listen, will the childbearing harm her in any way!' The agony was now apparent. The doctor now realised where this was stemming from.

"Seto medicine has significantly advanced since Mokuba was born. I promise you that everything possible will be done for the health of both mother and baby. You have nothing to fear." the Doctor reassured "the best thing you can do for her now is go talk to her, comfort her. The most helpful thing on ensuring that they both will be healthy is to ensure she takes proper care of herself." He sighed shaking his head "Seto why must you insist on looking for the worst in everything, go be with her. I'll see myself out."

xxx

You sat there frozen. Pregnant you were not prepared for this. You thought back to when you had been intimate together, but you never missed a day of taking your pill. You set the cup aside and placed a hand over your abdomen; you were going to be a mother. Seto, a father. You had in some of your daydreams tried to image what Seto would be like as a father. How good he would be with a child. You could always easily see Seto being brilliant with a child but you, you hadn't a maternal bone in your body. That thought swirled through your head. However, in all your imaging it was many years in the future and the two of you married. That thought filled you with dread. You had heard of women who trapped their partners into marrying them by getting pregnant. You hoped Seto didn't think that of you. You loved him, but you would never think of doing something so underhanded.

You felt the mattress dip beside you, and strong arms encircle your shoulders. You knew they felt you trembling; you couldn't stop your body was betraying you.

You felt yourself being pulled closer towards his chest; you felt the rumble in his chest as he spoke your name soothingly. "Listen to me. Whatever happens, I'm here. I'm not going to abandon you," he lifted your chin with his forefinger, so you looked directly into his eyes. "You and now this child are my responsibility, every since we got together I have always had your best interests at heart, why would you think so low of me, that I would tell you to leave?"

Holding eye contact with those clouded blue eyes was extremely hard. You dropped your gaze. You had a lump in your throat that you found it hard to push the words out. "Think of your position. You have to leave me; this child will be out of wedlock, think of the damage this will do to Kaiba Corp. ."

"Your an idiot." Seto declared to which you snapped your head up "Do you think so low of me? Do you honestly think I would do that? Let people talk if they want. It says more about them than it does us. We may not be married, but you are as much a Kaiba as me. Don't you ever, ever think for one second that I would abandon you for what the small minded nimrods say about us.If I hear anyone slighting you ever for this I will not be held responsible for my actions" he growled menacingly sending a jolt of electric down your spine.

Strangely his words held comfort for you. He thought of you as a Kaiba. He held you tight to his chest as if you would float away if he loosened his grip on your shoulder. The rhythm of his chest rise and fall lulling you into that strange fuzzy place between conscious thought and sleep. Shortly after this, you drifted off to sleep.

Seto stayed by your side while you slept. He watched your face content in sleep and gently stroked hair away from your face. He whispered to you "You have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love...... you. *" there was the buzz of a phone vibrating. Seto heaved a great sigh as he fished into his pocket to retrieve the device. "Kaiba" he answered.  
"Mr Kaiba, it is Doctor Kormu, I have just received the results of the blood tests. Is it possible to speak with..." the doctor queried.

"I'm afraid she's still resting Doctor; I don't want to wake her, this news has hit her rather hard, please tell me is she expecting?"

Kaiba held his breath waiting for the doctor to either confirm or deny his diagnosis.

"The results show that there is a slight rise in her hCG levels indicating that she is pregnant. However, they are borderline. Therefore I must stress how important my recommendation of a healthy lifestyle is and to limit her stress levels as much as possible. I will make an appointment for her to see a specialist very shortly, I assume you have no objections the obstetrician I recommend."

"Of course not Doctor just remember our previous conversation, I want only the best physicians to protect her health. If it comes down to a choice, I want it known they must always put her needs above that of the child."

"Of course Mr Kaiba, I will send on your wishes regarding this and the usual NDA and a contract to be signed by all parties of your wishes will be drawn up to put your mind at ease." Kaiba gave his agreement with the Doctors words "I wish you a good night." the doctor rung off. Seto sat in the darkness cradling you to his chest. He thought about what all had happened since last night. It had been stressful, to say the least. Seto looked down at you once more; he knew the doctor was telling him the truth when he said that medicine had advanced, but he could not shake the worry that plagued him that this would be detrimental to your well-being. He could feel his eyelids becoming heavy and slide down in the bed still holding you he fell into a fitful sleep.

***

He was back in Egypt; his robes were made of gold and purple. It seemed to be a celebration going on in a great hall. The hall was decorated with fine silks and linens. There was a large number of people gathered to watch the entertainment. There were women dancing to music. He looked to his right; you were seated beside him, you were dressed in fine linen adorned in gold and jewellery, a beautiful golden crown woven into your hair. You watched the dancers oblivious to his attention. He glanced down at your swollen abdomen. The dancing had stopped, and a high priest came to the centre of the hall. "All Praises goes to Ra and may the God Tawaret bless and keep you, our most gracious Queen, The Great Pharaohs Royal Wife as you soon prepare to give birth." the priest then walk towards where the two of you were seated and bowed deeply.

Kaiba then felt that time accelerated forward in front of him. He was now swiftly walking down a hallway in the palace, as he neared he could hear pained moans and screams of agony. There was a commotion in a doorway. A man stood blocking the doorway. "Pharoah, you should not be witness to this. You must stay away while the Gods decide the Royal Wife's fate."  
Another scream pierced the air. "Out of my way, that is an order." he bellowed. He barged into the room; you were lying on a bed a large number of priests around you praying to the Gods. A servant wiping your brow and the royal physician standing over you. They all turned at the sight of the Pharoah and bowed deeply. "What is happening!" he thundered watching as you writhed in agony.

"There are complications with the birth, Your Majesty. The Queen is having great difficulty. She is no longer strong enough to sit upon the birthing stool. She must deliver on her back, but I fear she is too weak to help push the child anymore. We have done all we could, the child may survive, but it is likely the Gods will take them both."

Pharoah Seto felt the world collapsing around him as he shouted out "NO, NO! YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME! YOU CAN'T DIE!" he turned to see you calling out for him "Seto, Seto wake up."

The sensation of being shaken and your voice calling out to him slowly penetrated through to him. He woke up his legs tangled in the sheets and felt his hair sticking to his forehead with sweat. He was panting for breath. It took his eyes a long time to focus. You were looking down at him with concern. "Are you alright, you must have had a really horrible dream, you were screaming and thrashing about for a long time."

"I'm fine. Nothing for you to worry about." Seto said as he slid out of bed and went into the bathroom. He was leaning over the sink splashing water on his face when you came into the room. "You were screaming my name, Seto."

He walked passed you pulling his sweat drenched shirt off. "It's nothing to concern yourself with." he snapped irritably. You visibly shrunk at his tone. "I have work to do." he barked and left the room.

You curled up in a ball on top of the bed. The past twenty fours had been hard to process. You didn't know what was for the best both for yourself, your company and your relationship with Seto. You decided to give Seto space for a while at least. You then made the next decision you could and lifted you phone and scrolled through your contacts.

"It's me! We need to meet."

The voice on the other end of the phone was smug "I wondered when you would call."

 

*Mr Darcy from Pride and Prejudice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has read tho story so far and a big hug to those who have left Kudos!! I love to know that someone out there is liking my work. I'm starting to feel like the pace of the story is maybe not fast enough meh let me know what you think :)


	6. Midnight Confessions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok just to warn you all Seto is going to seem very out of character in this chapter but that is the problem with alcohol it does very strange things to some people. Anyway thanks for everyone who have read, commented and left kudos so far. Apologies for the wait but real life has a nasty way of taking me away from this story. Enjoy! <3 Edit 15/2/18

You found Seto in the first-floor library. You felt you had given him enough time to let him get his thoughts in order. He was sitting in one of the leather high back chairs. You caught him mid swig of whiskey. You looked across to where the crystal decanter sat beside him. Something was badly wrong. Seto ran to hide behind alcohol in the most stressful or extreme circumstances. However, that had been unbeknownst to you, quite often as he would only drink while you slept. You padded across the floor to where he sat. "How many have you had?" you indicated the glass in his hands with your head.

"Not nearly enough." Seto slightly slurred "I think this is number 14 and this is number 15." he chuckled darkly at his joke as he poured himself another generous measure.

"Please, Seto don't do this. Talk to me what's wrong? There has been something troubling you long before the news today that I'm pregnant. Just tell me." you pleaded softly.

He made a huffing noise which was very unlike him. "Who says it's about you? Maybe I just fancied a drink." He tossed back the amber liquid. You kneeled down beside him and placed your hand over his as he reached for the decanter again. "Please" you urged softly. He turned his alcohol-clouded eyes towards you. He reached out and cupped your cheek. The movement lacked the usual finesse. He had an incredible tolerance; a normal person would have been comatosed by now.

"You promise not to leave me without a fight. My Mother didn't put up a fight. In the dream, you didn't fight. You left me, you all leave me in the end! She just ...just gave me Mokuba then died." he slurred the alcohol pushing out the truth. Your eyes widened in shock at the confession that he was delivering. "I don't want you to go, why did she die, you'll leave me too. You won't stay with me you'll die too." A single lone tear rolled down his cheek.

"Oh Seto." you were lost for words at the pained expression now on his face. "I would never leave you without a fight. You know your mum would have stayed if she could." Seto gave a very childish nod; the drink exaggerated his movements.

"I know." he agreed. "Mum told me to look after Mokuba and that she loved me and then she went to sleep." you hadn't realised, but he was slipping back into a childhood state and was reliving everything through a child's eyes.

You stood up and pulled gently on his hand. "Come back to bed Seto. You know that drinking wouldn't change anything."

He trailed after you as you pulled his hand back to bed. "You know you're going to have one hell of a hangover tomorrow. Here drink this glass of water before you do anything else," you said leading him to bed and placing the glass in his hand. He complied with you and drunk the water before crawling under the sheets. You curled up beside him, the smell of alcohol of him made you feel nauseous, but you fought it down. You reached up and gently stroked his soft chestnut hair. He groaned at the sensation. "My mum did this to me in bed, before Mokuba."

The confession really hit you like a punch in the heart. It was evident the drunken ramblings were revealing to you how hard it had hit Seto, the death of his mother and you felt a new wave of guilt at having him feeling helpless once again with the diagnosis of your pregnancy.

You gently asked, "What else did she do Seto?" your curiosity winning.

Once again he chuckled "She used to sing to me, a beautiful song I don't remember the words anymore. I'll sing to our children lullabies and tell them stories and do all the things a real father does."

"Oh Seto," you whispered sorrowfully.

He opened his bleary eyes and smiled "I'm going to be a father."

You smiled at him "Yes I know, and do you know what? I think you're going to be a very good father." He closed his eyes and made a contented noise. You continued to stroke his hair as he fell deeper into sleep. Tears slowly rolled down your cheeks at the drunken confessions. You knew he would not remember what he said tomorrow. To ask him about it in a sober state would only hurt him more you believed.

***

You woke in the morning to the sound of wretching. You sighed to yourself. You used the internal system to call down to the kitchen. "Could you bring up to the master suite orange juice, water, a round of brown bread toast with honey and bananas please for two."

You went to face one very sick Kaiba. When you entered the bathroom the sharp tang of stale alcohol and butanoic acid, hit you. It was almost instantaneous the bile rose in your throat. You just had enough time to push Seto away from the toilet before you emptied your stomachs content. You lean back gasping, the acidic burning up your throat. You looked across the toilet bowl and saw Seto's bloodshot eyes gazing at you. You smirked "Some way to start the morning. At least you have only one morning of this I've nine months." that gained a humourless snort then a wince from Seto. "Sore head?"  
He slowly nodded his head. You got up from your position on the floor and motioned for Seto to follow you out. The maid had left everything you had requested. You layered a significant amount of honey onto the toast and handed a plate to Seto along with a glass of water.  
"Once you've finished that eat the banana," you told him as you went back into the bathroom. "Voice of experience speaking, my darling" you called back sarcastically as you opened the medicine cabinet. You pulled out the pack of aspirin and popped out two pills to give to Seto. When you had returned, you couldn't believe that the toast had already been eaten. Seto was a picky eater and never really ate breakfast unless you forced and nagged at him. You handed over the pills. He mumbled his thanks. "Do you remember anything from last night?" you questioned him.

It took several minutes, but then you heard his throat clear and said "I remember leaving you here and going to the library. What happened after that? How much did I have? I don't think I have ever felt this bad after drinking."

Part of you wanted to make fun of him. You were slightly sadistic in that way, not cruelly, just a gentle ribbing at the great Seto Kaiba feeling sorry for himself. However last nights revelations made you hold back on your jesting. "You had enough, I came down told you to come to bed, and you did, then you snored your head off all night."

He nodded his head remorsefully. He seemed to accept your lie. Your phone started to ring demanding your attention and seriously irritating Seto's headache.

You answered to a cheery Dr Kormu. The Doctor asked after your health this morning. "I have to admit Doctor I have felt better; I had some nausea this morning. However, I think it has passed for now."

"I see yes, I'm not going to patronise you by saying that pregnant women do have morning sickness. I have three points to my call. First was to ask after yourself, Second, I realise he would deny anything remotely near a feeling but how is Seto with the news, I was worried about him after our little discussion yesterday."

You were silent for a long moment. You were in a predicament tell the doctor about last night or not. "I realise you are totally within your right not to tell me anything, but I am Seto's doctor, as well. "

You chewed your lip in deliberation, you crossed the bedroom and stepped out into the hallway. "He ... he is not in the best of health at the moment himself."

"Oh, do you need me to attend to him?" the doctor queried

"No thank you, this is self-inflicted. I'll speak to you frankly because I think I need someone who knows his past to help me understand things."

"I'll try my best as far as patient confidentiality allows. Although if you want someone who knows him Moku..."

You cut his suggestion of "I don't want to burden Mokuba with this. He idolises his big brother."

"Very well I will try to help as much as I possibly can."

"He woke up last night shouting my name. He then went and drunk himself into a stupor. In his drunken state, he told me a bit about his mother and her death. He then said he didn't want me to leave him. I asked him this morning, and he remembers none of it." you spoke in a hushed tone at a rapid speed. After you had finished, you had felt like you had betrayed Seto in some way. There was silence on the other line. Then slowly the doctor replied

"I see, I also called you to tell you about the obstetrician I have found for you and to tell you the appointment time for you to attend an initial appointment. I think you and I should meet before that for a little chat. It may help you understand Seto's point of view."

***

You had called Mai and got her to shuffle around some of your meetings to accommodate your little rendezvous with Dr Kormu.

You entered the quaint little coffee shop at the corner of Domino Park. You felt a horrible feeling in your gut of betrayal at what you were doing. You noticed that Dr Kormu was already seated in a far corner perfect for privacy. You greeted him and sat down. The waitress came by, and you requested an Earl Grey tea with milk. The doctor raised his eyebrows. "Oh come now, you know I drink tea like it's going out of fashion, I can't give it up just like that, but I promise you I'll cut it down, a bit." you ended playfully.

The doctor chuckled good-heartedly "I never said a word, my dear. Now it sounds like you had quite the opposite of a restful night as I prescribed. Tell me what happened exactly and I'll see what information I can give you to help."

You sighed heavily. "I shouldn't be meeting you like this behind Seto's back I mean."

The doctor gave what you thought of as his trademark fatherly face. "My dear, I'm sure you know Seto cares greatly for you and you him yes? Well, whatever you say to me stays with me and whatever I tell you is in both yours and Seto's best interest. Why would you looking for advice on how to understand someone you care for point of view and reasoning be a betrayal? Even if that said person is Seto Kaiba."

You sat silently processing the doctor's words. You resolved that the doctor was right. You took a sip of your tea and proceeded to tell about what had happened last night. The doctor listened carefully asking for clarification at times.

"Well, I say, it sounds like poor Seto has had quite an emotional rollercoaster of a night. Even if he denies ever having anything that verges close to a 'feeling'." The doctor smiled and continued his narrative.

"I'm sure you know that both Seto and Mokuba were adopted by Gozaburo Kaiba. Well, I thankfully have been the Kaiba physician since they were adopted. I had requested the medical files from the orphanage when they first came to live at the Kaiba residence."

You nodded none of this information was new to you. "Seto's mother gave birth to Mokuba and suffered some complication during the birth and unfortunately passed away shortly after. This had a very profound effect on young Seto. Couple this with the death of his father about I believe five years later and the abandonment of the two of them to the orphanage by their remaining family members.

Well, it all combined that Seto believes that if he cares for someone like he did his mother and father, they will leave him. There was some work done in the orphanage to try and address this I believe, but you know how hard it is for him to accept advice plus at that very impressionable age an idea lodged in that brain of his which he has never truly got rid of. I believe last night you witnessed the resurfacing of this innate fear that he has."

The doctor paused in his explanation to let the information sink in. You now understood why he was begging you not to leave him. Every other human being that he had a personal relationship apart from Mokuba had left him.

"Seto believes, from the conversations I've had with him so far, that this pregnancy will have a shall we say a negative effect on you." your eyebrows knit together at the doctor's choice of words then the realisation dawned on you.  
"Oh, Seto." you groaned softly placing a hand up to your eyes to rub them.

"I should also tell you, so it's not a shock to you, but he has explicitly given indications if it comes down to it we will be bound legally to save you ahead of the child. I have received this morning the contract that he has drawn up. I have yet to read it, but I think that in Seto's mind, the mind of a businessman, that a contract ensuring that we look after you as akin to a safety blanket."

You blinked several times, "You are doctors that's what you do, treat people, I don't understand. Do I even get a say on this?"

"Of course you have the final word but think of it from his view once again. Someone he loves, yes, loves no matter what you both say, is going to go through something that last time in Seto's life caused the first person he loved to die. The only thing in his power right now is to bark and order and get contracts signed. This is a roundabout way of saying he doesn't want to lose you if it comes down to either your life or the child's life."

You sat in the small coffee shop at a lost. The doctor had given you much information about Seto. You also didn't know how you felt about a contract being placed on your treatment. In a strange Kaiba sort of a way it was touching, so much more than a bunch of flowers or a box of chocolates but it was still your choice in how your own body was to be treated. You had to think carefully about how you would approach this situation.

xxx

That night as you sat through dinner together, there was a feeling of tension in the air. You were short and snippy with Mokuba. You were so much so that you caught the glance of Seto's rather disapproving look at one point. You obviously caused him to lose hold of his temper slightly during dessert as he snapped "What is wrong with you tonight?"

You had got back from the meeting with Dr Kormu to absolute pandemonium. You had to deal with a crisis with your PR department; there appeared to be a correlation between the use of one of the drugs produced by Agri Care and the likelihood of causing a mysterious disease in cattle. Couple that with the media also claiming that your takeover of Farmaxa was not as harmonious as it appeared. They were going to produce for the morning papers an exposé of how you had threatened and bullied the current owners into agreeing to sign over the company. It really was laughable, Farmaxa came to you, begging in fact. You and your PR executives worked for the rest of the day smoothing over cracks and doing damage control with all the media outlets that were friendly with your company.

During this Farmaxa owners had requested a conference call to assure you that the sources that the journalist was quoting hadn't come from any of them and to assure them that Agri Care still had the deal on the table.

All of this didn't give you much chance of thinking about your current situation with Seto and how you would address his worries. You didn't arrive at the manor until well after ten o'clock. You assumed that the two brothers would have eaten without you. You were shocked that they hadn't.

All you wanted to do was to have a shower and go to bed. You had very little energy left to give. The tiredness you were feeling was something you were familiar with, but you usually ignored you bodies demands and worked through it. However, you felt that just for one night you could go to bed early and sleep right through until morning. Instead, Seto had forced you to trudge into the dining room with the brothers and sat and forced yourself to eat as much of the dinner as you possibly could.

You had finished your final course, and Mokuba was excused. When you made to get up, you felt an iron grip around your wrist. You looked down to see Seto's hand encircling it.

"Sit down!" you compiled you waited for him to continue "last night what happened, the truth, this time." he hissed venomously

"What makes you think what I said this morning wasn't the truth?"

"You have been pussyfooting around me and were too nice to me this morning." Seto snarled. "Normally you would make a smart ass remark at my hangover. This morning not one sarcastic remark instead I got the caring girlfriend routine.Now tell me why!"

"Pregnancy must suit me then, my darling." you snarked back.

Seto lips quirked at the response "You see that's more like it, so I'll ask again what happened?"

You pulled your wrist gently, and Seto complied by releasing it. "You must have had a dream or something; you were screaming my name as if your life depended on it. When you woke up, you went and drowned yourself in whiskey."

Seto narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Is that it?"

"Yes."

"You didn't tell me this, this morning because of what, you felt sorry for me." his voice rising with anger. "I don't want your pity."

"Pity? Seto why would I pity you? I just thought that it wasn't the time to discuss it. I was going to talk to you tonight about this pregnancy. About how this would affect us both, but you like always jumped the gun. You have just had a go at me like I'm one of your, your possessions that you have a say over what can or can not be done to me without my consent!" you snorted your anger getting to you too.

"What are you saying?"

"You going behind my back to tell the doctors that the life of a child, our child was of no importance to you."

"I did no such thing, what gives you that idea?" he bellowed in outrage.

"Did you not say to put my health and welfare above that of our child," you yelled in a fury. You saw his eyes widen in realisation.

"I didn't mean it like that." he took a steadying breath you could visibly see how he was trying hard to dampen down his anger. When he finally opened his eyes, and those blue pools looked at you, he said softly "What I meant by it was when it comes down to a choice between your life and the child's life I will always put yours first."

Your heart was wildly beating in your chest. The anger still coursing through your veins. You groaned in frustration at his confession. You ground the heels of your hands into your eye sockets.

"You know I wanted to have this conversation in a lot more civilised manner." You heard Seto's snort of derision. "You are the most pessimistic man I have ever met, nothing is going to happen to this baby or me." you saw Seto hesitate then inclined his head slightly in understanding.

You continued "I suppose now is as good a time as any to tell you. Both of us have an appointment with the obstetrician that Dr Kormu has recommended tomorrow. After that appointment is over, I have to fly out to Germany to fix the problems that have occurred concerning my takeover of Farmaxa. The competition and acquisition authority is concerned about me monopolising the market. Then to England to discuss issues with a product at the university that runs the trials for my company.'

You waited for the explosion of anger to occur. You heard the low growled voice through clenched teeth "I don't think that is a good idea in your condition, send someone else."

"It wasn't up for discussion Seto; I will be gone a maximum of a week. If you're going to be like this for the next nine months both our lives will be not worth living." you soften "I'm not the first person to get pregnant Seto, I'm not going to break or shatter just because I have to travel for my job. I promise you."


	7. Chapter 6 I will keep you safe you will keep me wild

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for anyone who has left kudos and is still following this story big <3 go out to you. Sorry for the delay on this, It pretty much is in my mind a filler chapter. anyway let me know what you guys think :) Edited 15/2/2018

You took a steadying breath as you sat opposite the empty desk. It had not gone unnoticed, and Seto placed his hand gently on your knee and gave a light squeeze. You had been lead into the office of the obstetrician that Dr Kormu had recommended. Inside your stomach fluttered with nerves. The doctor entered the room and settled herself behind the desk and opened the file in her hand. She was a middle-aged woman with an aura around her that put you automatically at ease. She greeted you and Seto and explained what would happen at this initial assessment and throughout your pregnancy. "I've seen Dr Kormu initial report, If you don't mind, I need to assess you, please go behind the screen and take off your skirt and place the blanket over you. Let me know when you're ready."

You complied with the doctor and when behind the screen and shimmied out of your skirt, you discarded your stilettos and hopped up on the bed. You could hear your heartbeat in your ears. Why were you so nervous about this. You called to her that you were ready. She performed some basic test on you, taking your heart rate, blood pressure, felt your abdomen and took more bloods for testing. She then instructed you to put your clothes back on. When you returned back into the room, you just had a glimpse of Seto staring daggers at the doctor before returning his face to the expressionless mask that he usually wore.

The doctor explained when she next expected to see you and what to expect over the coming weeks. You already had the majority of the symptoms she had mentioned.

xxx

You rubbed your forehead at a pulsing headache. The report you were reading made no sense. You had instructed a previous associate to investigate the farm that had first reported the mysterious illness. His report and that of the necropsy were in front of you. The photos taken of the calves were triggering a very fleeting memory. You were sitting in one of the seats in your corporate jet. You had just wrapped proceedings with Farmaxa directors, and the acquisition of their company was going ahead. You were travelling on to your next leg of your travels. To England to discuss the trials that were carried out to ensure the safety of the vaccine and to collect the physical evidence from the farm in question. You could have easily passed this on to other senior staff in the company, but you really didn't know who you could trust anymore.

You sat and stared at the photos in front of you. You were angry. Angry that this had happened, angry that if there was a fault with the vaccine that someone had passed it fit for use, angry at yourself for not remembering what the photo reminded you of. You sighed disheartened, this was getting you nowhere. You lay back on your seat and closed your eyes.

The smell was the first thing you noticed. It was the smell of blood. The metallic smell was very distinct and familiar to you. Your vision then cleared to see a large number of dead calves at your feet blood streaming from every orifice. Then you heard the moans and cries of desperation. You turned to see farmers in desperate need. These calves represented their livelihood. The livelihood which due to the death of these calves was now at serious risk. One farmer reached out to you moaning "Why have you done this to us? You've bled us dry!" you woke up automatically gasping.

The flight attendant was at your side "Would you like me to get you anything?"

"Yes, a glass of water please."

"Of course, and the captain says that we will be landing in half an hour." the flight attendant left you with a slight bow.  
You mumbled to yourself "Bled dry....bled.....bleeding..... bleeding calves, of course, bleeding calf syndrome. You got up from your chair and went to the cockpit.

"I need to use the SATCOM," you told the pilot.

"Of course ma'am." he immediately handed you the handset. You rang the laboratory that was dealing with the necropsy and told them to run tests to check for the syndrome.

xxx

You were travelling back to the hotel after a long day at both the university and then the labs. You had wanted to discover all you could over the appearance of the first case. When you last check there were now more than a hundred cattle suspected of dying the same way. Your phone rang, you groaned internally and answered. "So you're in London, are you as busy as always or do you have time for a coffee and catch up? I know Freddie would love to see you again and you haven't seen Ernst yet."

"How do you know I'm in London?" you questioned confused.

"Late Edition Newspaper looks like you're having difficulties."

you hummed in agreement "You have no idea, how bad is the article, don't whitewash it, Bex."

"It's no big deal; they're pretty positive about how you have jumped so quickly to this, they say the stock has dropped, but I think it could have been worse. Hugh agrees." Bex replied "So can you take some time out of your oh so busy schedule to have either dinner or a coffee with us?" she needled

Bex was a friend that had remained by you during your time in university. She was one of the few people that you would truly call a friend. You rarely got to see her or her family due to your separate lives now. However, you always tried to make sure to see her anytime that you were in London. This trip had been so last minute that you had never thought to contact her.

"Of course I'll meet you, Bex, it's been a long day." you sighed.

"Perfect you can come to our new home out at Clapham, you have the address?" she said happily.

You found yourself the next evening sitting down to an excellent home-cooked meal. Bex had left university to marry her childhood sweetheart, Hugh after you had graduated. After her marriage, she soon became a full-time mum to Freddie and now three-month-old Ernst.

You had just finished your meal, and Hugh left to put Freddie to bed. Bex turned to you with a devious smirk on her face. "So when were you going to tell me."

You were at a loss "Tell you what exactly?"

She sighed exasperate "That you're pregnant!"

You almost choked on your drink. Outside a handful of people, no one was to know. The non-discloser order was to ensure no one talked. "How do you know?"

"Oh come on where do I start, not drinking at dinner, you winched when I hugged you I guess you have tender breasts and you looked positively broody when I gave you Ernst to hold so am I right or am I right." she ended smugly

"It's very early days I'm only about five or six weeks. I'm still getting used to the idea myself," you confessed.

"I knew it" Bex beamed.

You confessed to Bex about the pregnancy and how worried you were about how Seto had first taken the news.

xxx

You returned to Dominio on the sixth days late at night or early morning depending on how you viewed four o'clock. You arrived at the Kaiba mansions steps at half four. All that was on your mind was seeing Seto and crawling into bed next to him. You entered your bedroom as stealthily as you could. Your effort was in vain as you saw Seto sitting up in bed studying his laptop. Eyes flicking up to see you as you entered the room. The corner of his mouth rising just slightly at the sight of you. He closed the laptop and set it to the side.

"What time do you call this? Is this honestly what you call taking care of yourself, strolling in here at an ungodly hour?" he seethed.

"And here I thought you'd be happy to see me," you said wearily.  
It was met with silence. You crossed the floor removing your clothing as you did so. You didn't care about changing into your night clothes; you slid under the covers in just your underwear. It was then that strong arms encircled you pulling you closer to him. "Of course I'm happy to see you, I've missed you and been worried about you," he whispered huskily in your ear. "Get some sleep." he then ordered. You didn't have to be told twice you were asleep in minutes you were just completely exhausted after travelling.

Seto looked down at you cuddled in tight to his side. He had missed you since your quick departure. He held you tight to him; you were his, he had sworn to himself do everything he could to protect you. That was why he had personal bodyguards following you since your departure which gave him regular updates.

Now that he knew you were back under his roof, his protection, he could maybe sleep a bit easier. From the evening that you had left Seto had been plagued with dreams of you dying in the ancient world and also disturbingly in the present world.

xxx

You woke the next morning still encased in his arms. You looked up at the glorious sight of him. He was looking through emails on his phone and hadn't noticed you awake. You looked on at him and marvelled at how he was with you. He looked magnificent, and he could have any woman he wanted, and still, he wanted you. You started to rub your hand across the toned muscles of his chest. You heard a dark purr resonated from his throat. Spurred on by this you began to tentatively place small kisses on his chest working up to the crook of his shoulder growing bolder as you moved upwards. You heard your name being huskily called out. You moved to the spot of his neck that you knew drove him wild. You bit and sucked his skin. You soon felt the hands around you grip you and twist you, so his arms caged you "Don't tempt me so early in the morning." you smirked up at him wickedly. He descended on you having little mercy on you. He demanded your lips and sucked and bit them. He left you panting as he travelled down your jaw and neck until he found a spot that he found particularly interesting and began to lavish attention on it. You groaned in appreciation. However, you soon felt a sensation overtake your body. You called out for him to stop but he continued, you then fought against him. He only rose up to look at you "What is wrong with you?" he groused, but you didn't answer but fled to the bathroom. You returned out of the bathroom unsteadily after the nausea had passed.

"Has it been like this all week when you were away?" he questioned when you re-emerged from the bathroom.

"It comes and goes, Seto, I'm fine," you said cupping his cheek in your hand.

You moved away from him to get ready for work. You pulled out a navy dress and your navy Louboutin heels.

xxx

"Mai get me the head of manufacturing up here immediately," you demanded. You had finished reading the final report you requested. You had asked for a chemical analysis ordered on the vaccine that was removed from several of the farms that had cases of bleeding calf syndrome. It had come back that it had been laced with an ingredient that was likely to increase the weakening of blood platelets which when an animal was put under stress caused mortality.

You believed that it had been a batch of vaccines that had been sabotaged. That was why a very nervous looking head of manufacturing was creeping into your office. You offered him a seat and explained the problem to him.

"I have the batch numbers of the vaccines that have been taken of the farms in question. Could you discover everything about them?"

He took the sheet of paper that you had produced and glanced at it. His eyebrows wrinkled in concentration. "Ma'am I would need to double check, but I believe these are the batch numbers for the loads that were unaccounted for after the explosion at the docks. We had assumed that the blast had destroyed them. There are a number of other unaccounted for products that we believed were destroyed. It appears that we were wrong."

You couldn't believe what he had just said. "Double check the numbers and give me a list of all the products that are unaccounted for. We may need to request a product recall for certain batch numbers to ensure that this doesn't occur with other products."

At six o'clock you believed that you had a clearer picture of what happened as you spent most of the afternoon trying to piece all the pieces of the puzzle together. You were busy on your computer when Seto walked into your office. "I've come to take you home," he announced expecting you to comply.

"I'm not ready yet," you muttered continuing to type up your document. He came up to your desk closing the lid of your laptop.

"Yes, you are. You can finish it had home." he declared bluntly. You huffed as you put away your files and prepared to go with him. 'Pass me that file." you asked pointing to the file you had been working on.

He lifted it, "What's this?" he arched his eyebrow in inquiry. Viewing your scrambled thoughts that you scribbled down in a mind map of your ideas.

"Oh that," you said despondently. "It's just me trying to work something out. Don't read it!" you snapped seeing him start to study it.

"Are you serious you think someone has contaminated stock?" he exclaimed.

"Not just a product, it appears that it was a batch ready to ship from the docks the night of the explosion." you sighed rubbing your forehead.

You got up from your desk and gave a catlike stretch. You felt a sharp pain in your back and winched. You noted that Seto saw you winching, but he wisely decided to not comment on it.

Sitting in the passenger seat of Seto's car you felt horrid. You hoped that you weren't coming down with a cold or something. You felt exhausted, and your muscles were aching. You felt Seto reach over and gently squeeze your thigh. You turned to look at him. He was staring straight ahead at the road.

"You're not looking very well," he stated

"Do I look so bad you can tell?"

"Ordinary people can't tell, but I can see it." he stated gruffly, "I think you should go to bed when we get home. You need to take more care of yourself."

xxx

You dozed fitfully when Seto came into. You felt the mattress dip with his weight as he sat down. You turned over to see him. He reached out and stroked your hair. "Dinners ready. Do you want to come down for it?" he questioned.

You sighed and lifted the corner of the sheets back. You saw a look of shock on Seto's face as you swung your legs from under the covers. You turned your head to see red staining the sheets. You realised with the panic rising in you that the lower part of your nightdress was stained with blood seeping through the fabric. You got up off the bed and doubled over with crippling pain in your abdomen.

You felt strong arms scoop you up as your chest tighten with the fear of what your body was doing. You felt awfully light headed as you cried out "What is happening to me!"

You heard Seto grit out "You're going to be alright." You knew you were in his arms and that he was close to you, but it felt like he was talking from a distance. You could hear the blood rushing in your ears. You tried to fight it, but the darkness was clouding in on you, and you felt dragged to oblivion.

The thunderous look on Seto Kaiba's face was enough to freeze hell over, as he rushed into the hospital with your dead weight in his arms. There was a hive of activity around him as nurses scrambled to get you transferred to a trolley and rushed you into the emergency room.


	8. The grief that does not speak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry, this is bad no matter how many times I have rewritten this it is just not sitting right with me. Forgive me for this iffy chapter. Edited 18/2/18

You couldn't be sure what was real and what was dreams anymore. You didn't normally have lucid dreams but what was happening to you was so terrifying it had to be a dream. The dreams came to you in fragments. You remember being removed from a warm embrace to a cold hard bed. You were surrounded by masked people in green talking, but you couldn't understand them. You could have sworn that Seto was at your feet, but you could neither reach out to him or call him. There was pain, sharp stabbing pain. Your body ached all over. You felt strangely warm but cold at the same time. You wanted to scream so that someone would hear you. Then there was warmth filling your veins allowing you to float above the bed; the floating sensation didn't last long until there was oblivion.

xxx

Kaiba hovered at the foot of the medical bed. He watched with hawk eyes as the doctors swarmed around you. The artificial beep that was monitoring your heart rate was both an annoyance and a comfort to him. As long as those beeps were at that regular steady pace, it meant that you were still alive.

Inside of him, he was in turmoil, all of a sudden the memory of his dreams came flooding back, without realising it he spoke up "You must save her, this is because of the pregnancy." The doctor then turned towards him "Nurse, I think it's about time that Mr Kaiba was shown to the relatives room."

Kaiba snarled at the doctor "I'm going nowhere!" The nurse that was going to escort Kaiba away visibly jumped back at his tone. At that moment the curtain was drawn back, and Dr Kormu stepped into the cubicle with a quizzical look on his face.

"I thought I heard your voice, Seto."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Seto seethed "Look at her you promised me she would be fine!"

"Seto calm down. You getting into a state will not do anyone any good. I was called by a nurse when you first came in. Now I'm sure it will be of great assistance to the doctor here if you come with me now and explain what has happened from your side of things" Dr Kormu placed a hand on Kaiba's arm. Kaiba violently shrugged it off "I'm going nowhere Doctor, She is my responsibility!" He barked.

"Seto, please, come with me and let them do their job. Every moment wasted with you is affecting her. Come now let them do their jobs. They will come to you if anything changes."

Seto stormed out of the cubicle in a fury. Snarling at anyone who dared look at him Dr Kormu smiled a sympathetic smile at the lead physician and followed after Kaiba.

It had taken all of Dr Kormu's experience and patience to help calm the angry beast that was Seto Kaiba. Seto's default emotion had always been anger, and this was nothing new to the doctor, but this was hell unleashed. After a half hour of trying to calm him down, he eventually with the assistance of Isono succeeded.

xxx

You looked out over the courtyard below you at the setting of the sun. You were the Great Royal Queen of Egypt your husband was the Great Pharoah of the two Kingdoms. Egypt had never been more prosperous under his reign. You adored your husband and was about to continue the line of his royal blood soon. You were being prepared for going into your final stages of resting before giving birth to the next great Pharaoh. You were glowing, and many commented that the Gods had surely blessed you with an easy pregnancy and the people of Egypt prayed daily for an easy birth and a healthy heir to continue Pharoah Seto's great legacy.

You smiled contently thinking of your husband and placed a hand over your swelled stomach. The baby must have awoken in you as you felt it move.

"Why my wife do you smile so? Am I still a pleasing sight to you?" you heard your husband question.

You bowed you head respectively "My great Pharoah, my husband I was thinking of our child's future following in his fathers legacy. The child has agreed with me as I felt him rejoice at my thoughts." Your husband removed the Crown of the two Kingdoms and came towards you. He gently kissed you and placed his hand on your stomach smiling contently. "Your time is soon upon us, and I declare I am anxious for the day to come." Your heart soared at the sight of your husband like this. You dearly loved to please him, and the announcement that you were with child had delighted the Pharoah immensely. He had declared you to be truly a blessing to him and decreed that a great statue was erected to celebrate your blessing by the Gods. It was a great honour for him to bestow upon you.

"The child will be blessed most surely, as he will have his Mothers beauty..."

"and his Fathers intellect. The Gods have blessed us both husband. I thank Taweret and Sekhmet daily for bestowing me the honour of carrying a powerful Pharaoh's heir in my belly. Come lie down and rest after a long day of serving our great country." You smiled coyly at him. He complied and lay with you under the curtain of fine linen. You sighed in satisfaction as your husband wrapped his arms around your frame.

xxx

Your body felt heavy; you were wading through a fog in your mind. You felt someone's presence hover over you. It was one of the men dressed in green. You tried to call out, but your jaw wouldn't cooperate. You felt something brush your hand. You felt a burning sensation in your limbs, and you felt the fog closing in on you before it finally retook you.

You heard your name seeping through the fog to you. You knew that voice, didn't you? You tried to place it but couldn't the voice sounded so distressed. There was a sharp pain stab at your heart at the pain in the voice. The fog swirled around you once more retaking you.

Your mouth felt like a desert; you cracked an eyelid open to be blinded by the bright artificial light. You groaned as you shut your eyes tight. You felt a grip on your hand tighten. The distant voice was calling you. You squeezed your hand weakly back in response at least you thought you did. "Wake up come on that's my girl, just open your eyes, for me, do it for me." the anguish in his voice was heart-rendering. Your eyes were like lead, but you forced them open. You could just see a crack of light. You closed them again and with all your willpower opened them fully.

You saw a blurred image in front of you. You blinked hard to clear your vision. It was Seto. He looked exhausted. His pale face looked whiter than you remembered and the dark circles under his eyes stood out prominently. His shirt creased from what seemed like several days wear, and the sleeves were rolled up exposing his forearms. His hair was tossed and stuck up at odd angles from him constantly running his hand through it, something he unconsciously did when stressed. Overall the picture he presented was not the crisp suave CEO you normally saw but someone who in all likelihood should have been in the hospital bed instead of you. His eyes shone at you with relief. He grabbed your shoulders and pulled you towards him. He heaved an enormous sigh as he embraced you as best he could in the bed. You were completely confused you couldn't remember anything. You heard him mumbling against you "I was so scared, I thought I had lost you at one stage." you tried to push away from him, but his grip tighten. It was so out of character for him; you waited several minutes until you felt his grip ease and you pulled away.

You croaked out the question that was burning through your mind "What happened?"

You saw his gaze drop from yours. You were grateful for the cup of water that Seto gently pressed into your hand. He asked in a sombre tone what you remembered. You closed your eyes trying to remember what had taken place. Your lip trembled as you remembered "I recall that you woke me and there was..." your voice dropped to a whisper "blood." His grip of your hand returned, and you watched as he stroked the back of your hand with his thumb. You gave a forlorn moan as reality hit you "Oh Seto...say it isn't so!" you heard a choking noise as you tried to put into words the unspeakable "I've... lost our child." you watch as Seto cast his gaze downwards once again.

"There was no other choice, the doctors had to operate, or you would have died," he said lowly.

The room hung in silence for some time before a doctor entered the room. He smiled as he noticed you awake. "I'm glad to see you awake. I am just here to take your vitals, and Dr Kormu has said he will be in this afternoon to see you, he will glad that you are awake."

xxx

You lay in that hospital bed feeling numb. You drifted in and out of sleep. Seto sat in a chair in the corner working on his laptop and occasionally taking calls to bark at some unfortunate soul. He refused to tell you any more information than what he told you when you first woke, saying that you were still too weak and emotional to fully understand. It was infuriating; you had just lost your child, and the only other person that could share in your grief refused to talk to you. You silently seethed until it overflowed unto your tongue "You know I'm awake now, you've seen that I'm alive you can go back to your precious corporation. I'm not going anywhere in this state." you seethed at him. He lifted his head from his laptop "Don't be ridiculous, I'm going nowhere." he told you coldly and proceeded on whatever he was working on. You turned your back to him on the bed. You felt the lump in your throat and felt the silent tears flow down your cheeks for what you had lost. You tried to be as silent as you could with your tears. You didn't think Seto would be too impressed with this further show of weakness. You heard the weary sigh and felt Seto's weight press against your whole body as he lay on the bed with you. His arms encircled your frame pulling you tight to him "Turn around." he murmured softly into your hair. You didn't move your breath caught in your throat "I won't ask you again, turn around." his voice a deep purr. You gently complied cautious of the pain that rippled through your body as you moved.  
"Cry, shout at me if you must but whatever you do, do not hide it from me. You have not failed me in any way, do you understand me. It may not seem like it at the moment, but it will get better, I have you, and that's all I need." he finished his speech to you by gently placing his lips on your hairline.

You both lay there in silence for quite some time. Your tears followed like a fountain that you couldn't stop; they soaked into Seto's shirt as you buried your hands into the fabric. You breathed in Seto's scent which eventually soothed you. He gently stroked your hair until he felt you stop crying and once again drift off to sleep. Once he was sure you were asleep, he unwrapped himself from around you and went back to work. Work was his solace.

You woke once again to a pain in your side and the urging demand from your bladder. You could see that the sun was low in the sky so it must be late afternoon. You turn around missing the sound of typing coming from the corner of the room. Seto was gone.

You gingerly got off the bed and slowly, being greatly inhibited by the i.v pole you had to drag after you, went to the private bathroom in your room. Sitting on the toilet, you hitched up your gown slightly and traced the bandage covering from your hip bone across the wound in your side. That was where the pain radiated from where they must have operated. That is where they had taken what would have been your baby away from you. You felt the tears well in your eyes at that thought again.

You were just getting back into bed when there was a knock on the door, and Dr Kormu entered. "Good evening, how are you feeling?"

"I don't know anymore, numb as if I'll never be happy again," you confessed. the doctor nodded solemnly

"What about your pain?"

"I am starting to feel a bit of pain on my right-hand side," you admitted, the struggle back to bed had zapped your energy.

"I see may I have a quick examination of you." Dr Kormu asked still perusing your chart "the surgery seems to have gone well."

"Dr Kormu what...what exactly happened? Seto won't tell me much. All I know is that I've lost..." you couldn't finish your sentence.

"I see, so no one has told you about what happened to you?" he queried "what caused you to lose the baby?" you shook your head slowly feeling the lump in your throat tighten.

"Typical surgeons hack you up then ship you on." Dr Kormu muttered. Dr Kormu reached out and placed a wrinkled hand over yours. He produced a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to you.

"Seto brought you to the hospital after you collapsed on him at home. You were bleeding quite heavily and starting to drift in and out of consciousness. The doctors diagnosed that you were suffering from an ectopic pregnancy." he paused to gauge your understanding "a laparoscopy was done to discover that the embryo was within the fallopian tube and there was a significant amount of internal bleeding in your pelvis. You were rushed in for an emergency operation. You were very close to being in hypovolemic shock, and at one stage it looked likely that you would die on the table. However, the surgery was successful and just in time. It was lucky that Seto had the good sense to get you to the hospital so quickly. Where is he by the way? I thought that he wouldn't want to be more than a foot away from you. I do hope he isn't terrorising the nurses, again." the doctor tried to end in humour

"I have no idea where he is I woke up to an empty room," you stated. You quietly voiced what had been running through your mind for most of the day "Will I be able to conceive again? Why did this happen?"

"It is early days, but I would say that I see no reason for you not to conceive again. You are young and healthy when you are both ready you can try again and be successful. As to why it happened my dear, it is very complicated. It is hard to be sure of the exact cause, but I do remember your confusion at becoming pregnant due to being on the pill, the hormonal imbalance caused by that could have lead to this. I am sorry for your loss my dear, truly."

Doctor Kormu examined your wound from the surgery and recommended that your pain medication be reviewed. He was gentle with you and was very helpful in answering your questions. He had recommended that you remain in the hospital for another day to be completely sure that you had no complications from the surgery before being discharged. When Dr Kormu was ready to leave your room, there was a knock on the door, and he opened it to a timid nurse holding a large bouquet containing gladioli, roses and chrysanthemums. It was a beautiful arrangement. The nurse placed them at the foot of your bed. "It looks like someone wants you to know they care." the doctor commented assuming that they were from Seto. He lifted the small envelope in the centre of the bouquet and handed it to you before leaving.

You opened the little envelope and pulled out the card. In elegant handwriting was the message  
comhbhrón as caillteanas do chástaire beag.  
beidh tú an chéad cheann eile

As you finished reading those words a chill that went deep into your bones strike you. Your hands began to tremble, and you struggled to breathe. You clutched your chest at the physical pain you felt strick your heart. You could hear the voice speaking the words as he wrote them. The grief that you were trying to control spilt out and ran out of control as you took great heaving sobs and moans. You gasped for breath and wailed out when your lungs had gathered enough oxygen to allow you. You cried out in pain of your loss.

  
The cries that came from your room were loud enough for the nurses to hear you at their station. They came running to you afraid that something terrible had happened.

xxx

Seto had debated with himself from the moment he left you if he had made the right choice. He had taken a call from one of his directors that there had been a breach of the Kaiba Corp. systems and he had to attend a debriefing of staff. The idiots that had tried to hack his system had no chance. They hardly got passed the first firewall. He was furious that he had been called away to deal with such a trivial hacker. After he ensured that everything was wrapped up, he had rushed back to the hospital.

He heard from the bank of lifts the agonising cries. He quickened his steps towards your room. He cursed himself for leaving your side. He slammed open the door to see a doctor injecting something into the cannula in your arm, as you fought against them pleading them to leave you alone.

"What the hell has happened? What are you doing to her?" he bellowed furiously as you slowly slumped like a dead weight against a nurse holding you down in your bed.

"She was hysterical and disturbing the other ....p..p..patients." the doctor began to explain but stuttered under Kaiba's intense stare.

"So you decide that a grieving woman who has only learnt today that she lost her child, my child, I might add, should be drugged into silence. That is a very compassionate attitude to have Doctor. Get out of this room now, all of you before I have your medical licences revoked." He said in a low, dangerous whisper. All the medical personal scurried passed him at the doorway. He took a long steadying breath before going to the bed to make you more comfortable. There was a lump in his throat when he lifted you to help rearrange your position to make you more comfortable. The dead weight of your body in his arms conjured up ideas of what could have been. He did what he had learnt many years ago and pushed his feeling deep down inside himself.

"Why did they think they had to resort to this?" he whispered as he smoothed back your hair. He saw lying on the floor beside the bed the small card that had been dropped in the commotion. He picked it up turning it over to read.

He looked at the card and could not understand the language. He pulled out his mobile phone and brought up an app for translation and scanned the card.

He read on the screen of his phone the message

Sympathy for the loss of your little bastard.  
You will be the next.


	9. Frailty, thy name is woman.

Warm, you felt warm and strangely comfortable, you were reluctant to open your eyes. You just wanted to stay in this cosy dreamland. Although something didn't feel right, the bed was breathing on you, you tried to make sense of it but couldn't. Your curiosity won in the end, and you opened your eyes. It took you some time to register that you were back in your own bed in the Kaiba mansion. It didn't make sense you were sure that the last thing you remembered was being forced down on a hospital bed. You turned around to see Seto curled up beside you; his arm flung out over your body holding you close. He was stirring with the movement that you had made. His brilliant blue eyes were alert as soon as they had opened. You gave a small smile at seeing him.

"I should never have left you alone." Seto husky voice from sleep said.

Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I don't understand Seto why am I back home I was in the hospital?"

Seto's lips quirked slightly in a sad smile. "What do you remember?"

"I don't know everything it is so blurry I just don't know what's real or if it's my imagination. What time is it? What happened?"

"Its just past eleven in the evening."

Seto raised his arm checking his watch, and you cuddled tight to his side as he wrapped his arm around your shoulder. After a few minutes of silence just listening to Seto's breathing, you heard him clear his throat. "I left you sleeping. Something had come up at Kaiba Corp. I spoke to Dr Kormu he said he had visited you and you were fine. When I returned something had happened that we didn't foresee."

"I remember Dr Kormu's visit he said I was to stay in for another day as a precaution," you said meekly. Seto made an affirmative noise.

"There was a delivery made to your room after that, a bunch of flowers with a message," Seto said slowly he heard your breath hitch at the memory of it and held you tighter.

"I remember the card yes...it was from .." you trailed off then the horrifying thought crossed your mind "How did they find out I had lost the baby, Seto? Only a few people knew I was pregnant."

"The thought has crossed my mind too, but I found out how the news leaked out. There was a student nurse; she said a man claiming to be a family member questioned her why you had been brought into the hospital. She told them that you had an ectopic pregnancy," he told you as he stroked your hair. He looked down at you and saw you nod your head minutely.

"I came back to the hospital to see the doctors sedating you because you became what he called "difficult" due to an unknown reason. I was too late to stop him, but when I found the card, I realised that must have been upsetting for you to see the card, but I think that the doctors were wrong to sedate you into submission. I, therefore, decided to take you back home immediately. The doctors aren't too happy that I ordered your discharge, but Dr Kormu said he would smooth things over and if he can't they have my legal department to deal with. No one treats you the way I saw when I walked through that door. " he finished menacingly. You were glad that you had been unconscious, so you didn't have to watch the wrath of Seto in the hospital. His grip had tightened around you as he told you what he had seen. You sat for a long moment in silence with Seto gently stroking your hair.

After some time had passed, you felt your body being dragged back down into sleep; the sedative was still working on your system when there was a knock at the bedroom door. You were immediately alert again. A maid entered the room "Sir, Dr Kormu is here, he wishes to speak with you in private." Seto furrowed his brow he sighed and told the maid to show the doctor into his study. You clung on to him for as long as possible; he wrapped his hand around the fingers curled around the fabric of his shirt. "I promise you I wouldn't be too long. Get some more rest." he kissed you hairline and left you. You wrapped yourself around his pillow the smell of Seto on his pillow comforted you.

xxx

Seto sat down across his desk from Dr Kormu; he didn't look his usual jovial self. He gave a heavy sigh as he looked across at Seto. He quickly realised that this was going to take exceptional diplomacy on his part. The wrath of Seto Kaiba was firmly targeted at the hospital staff and as an extension himself as being part of the medical profession.

"May I ask Mr Kaiba, after the health of Miss..? ' he used your maiden name with the up most of formality in the hope to appease Kaiba slightly.

Kaiba growled deep in his throat "She had only woken up shortly before you called. Once this meeting is over you may see her if you deem it necessary."

"Thank you, it would also be appreciated if I may have a private audience with her." the doctor asked trying to push his boundary

"I will be present, after what I witnessed today I do not think that you have the right to ask that," he growled back dangerously

"With respect, Mr Kaiba it is the patient's decision if you are present or not, I understand that you are upset about this afternoons....."  
The doctor was unable to finish his statement as Kaiba bellowed "UPSET!" his voice dropped to a dangerous tone "I am extremely far from upset, I want answers now from you as to what is to happen in regards to the farce I witnessed today. I requested that she was treated by the best staff in the hospital and have that strictest of privacy given to us. Especially considering that she has just had to go through the most traumatic experience of an operation to save her life and to be told that she lost our child. Instead, I return to discover that a total stranger had gotten details of her medical history and what operations she had undergone. Furthermore, a direct threat was delivered to her room by the nursing staff."

The doctor held his hands up in defence. "Mr Kaiba I have dealt this afternoon on your behalf with the medical director of the hospital. He agrees that the situation was not handled in the most professional way possible. The nurse is to be given further training on confidentiality and a warning letter as is hospital policy. The doctors who you witnessed given the sedation have given their statements and have been found to be negligent in the treatment of a patient, this is considered a most serious offence at the hospital and the doctors have suspended while an inquiry is completed."

Kaiba let out a long drawn out sigh. He rubbed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Trying to dampen down his rage. "Very well, going forward I believe that you are capable of taking care of her from here." he inquired

"I believe so, but if I feel that she needs to be re-emitted to the hospital, I do have the power to overrule you if I deem it necessary. However, I don't see that being the case. Being in familiar surroundings may help in her recovery, I only suggested the overnight stay as a precaution."

xxx

Dr Kormu took your blood pressure and heart rate; he double checked that the wound left from the surgery had not ripped open. All the while Kaiba hovered in the background watching every move the doctor made.

"I'm sorry for what happened in the hospital this afternoon." the doctor began to say.

You shook your head "It was not your fault."

The doctor gave you a sad smile in return. "Now that you're out of the hospital, I realise the temptation for you to think that you can go back to your normal activities."

You groaned "I know where this is going Doctor; I've to rest."

He nodded his head "Yes, but I realise that you'll not rest for the amount of time that I would like. So I will just say avoid very physical activities such as horse riding and, just listen to your body. I'll be back in a few days to check on your healing." the doctor reached into his case and took out several boxes of medication. "I have prescribed some pain medication for you and something to help you sleep if you need it," he explained setting the boxes on the nightstand table beside you.

xxx

Your back ached, it was due to spending too long in bed. You were restless. You had spent two long days in bed already. You had a vehement argument with Seto in the morning when he saw you getting out of the bed as he came into the bedroom from his morning shower. He had tongued that you were foolish to think of going to work. You had complained like a child that he was dictating what you could and could not do.

Which led you now to this point. You were sitting up in bed having relented to Seto this morning that you would remain in bed for one more day. It was early afternoon. You threw back the covers and went to get out of bed this time safe in the knowledge that Seto couldn't stop you as he had left for work. You gingerly walk over to the walk-in closet to get dressed. The dull pain in your side throbbed slightly, but you ignored it.

You choose a loose-fitting blue dress. When dressed you looked in the mirror at you complexion you were so pale you looked ghostly. No wonder Seto was so concerned, you were so ill-looking.

You made your way down to the study. It really was Seto's study, but you always felt more comfortable working there than the study that he had set aside for you to work in. You opened up your emails and groaned you had only been unable to attend to them for a short time, but the sheer volume of emails in your inbox made it look like you had been away for several months. It was going to take you hours to wade through them all.

The world could have fallen in on itself, and you would not have noticed you were so absorbed in your work. You had not realised the time passing. You heard a timid knocking on the door; it had to be a maid as Seto would just have stormed in. You called for them to enter. You saw a mass of black hair poke around the door. Mokuba then gathered his courage and came into the room. He was still dressed in his school uniform. He stood in front of the desk, and he toed the carpet with his trainers.  
"What's wrong Mokuba?" you asked slightly concerned about the boy's demeanour.

“You know Shakespeare” he started hesitantly  
Your eyebrows rose quizzically “Not personally no Mokuba.” He gave a weak chuckle at the lame joke.  
“No I mean do you know his plays,” Mokuba asked shyly  
“Mokuba why don’t you just spit it out, what about Shakespeare and his plays?“  
“Right, OK, for my final English assessment I have to read Shakespeare's plays and write about them, but I just don’t understand a word of them. You speak English as your first language. Why are they so difficult?”  
You nodded your understanding “Mokuba I don’t think your the first person to say they struggled to understand the works of Shakespeare.”  
“Did you find it difficult too then?” Mokuba questioned with eyes resembling saucers.  
“I wouldn’t say that Shakespeare was my forte Mokuba, but I’m sure I could have a look and see if I could help you figure it out, how does that sound?” You said seeing where Mokuba was trying to steer the conversation.

“Would you? That would be great; I have some other homework to do first then I’ll come back here with my work that OK?” he asked brightening considerably.

xxx

Seto arrived home very early from work. It was barely past five. You were still in the study. You were reading a document on the computer screen. He barged straight into the study.

“You should be in bed, not in here!” He announced.  
You gave a heavy sigh you knew this would happen you just hadn’t expected him home so early. Your master plan of sneaking back to bed was scuppered.

“What did you expect me to actually stay in bed all day. I thought you knew me better than that.” You snarked

“Don’t get smart with me.” He growled back “You should still be resting the doctor said"

“The doctor said no physical activity, now if you think that sitting at a desk is counted as a physical activity then you have means to speak.” You challenged. You knew you had made your point when you heard the low irritated growl come from deep in his throat.

Mokuba had walked in on the staring contest that had ensued. He went to back silently out of the room, but you had caught him. “Mokuba you ready for help with your assignment?”

Seto snapped his head round to his little brother “What?” it had sounded harsher than Seto had meant it to be

“Don’t get mad Seto. I just asked if I could have help on my English assignment. It's about the plays of Shakespeare, and I figure 'cos English is her first language she could help me understand it more.” Mokuba rambled “I would have asked you if I thought you would be home this early.” Mokuba added on at the last moment thinking that his brother was upset with him.

Seto stormed out of the room without saying anything more.

“Can Shakespeare wait for another time Mokuba?” you asked as the door slammed shut with an almighty crash.

“Sure,” Mokuba said disappointedly. As you got up from the desk to search for Seto.

xxx

You found Seto fairly easily, although you had quite a struggle to walk up the staircase. You stood in the doorway of the bedroom willing the throb in your side to recede when he came out of the closet dressed casually. The anger within you melted away at the sight of him. You walked across to him and opened your arms out in a silent ask for a hug. He wrapped his arms gingerly around you. You leaned your cheek against his chest and breathed in his scent. You felt his chin rest on the top of your head. “I’m sorry Seto, but I just can’t stay in bed all day. I felt like I was going mad.”

You heard the hum from him then he brushed his lips against your hairline. "Have you any idea how much I worried about you the last couple of days?” He whispered. You stayed like that a few moment and then felt the rush of cold air as he pulled away from you. “I assume this means that you are going to continue working and ignore the need for your body to rest.”

You nodded “Don't put it like that. I have a very important meeting at the agricultural college tomorrow that I can not back out off.”

Seto grunted, “What’s it about?”

“Several businesses are discussing setting up graduate positions in our companies. That is if the syllabuses being taught are fit for purpose.” You told him. There was hardly a few second passed before he declared that he was going with you.

“What?, NO!”

“I think you'll find I will be going with you. I’m sure the college will be happy to have Kaiba Corp. on board as well.” He declared smugly

You floundered “You have nothing to do with this industry.”

He chuckled “Really are you saying you know my company better than me? Do not assume anything, my dear.” He swiftly pecked your cheek and left the room.

You stood alone in the bedroom and fumed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think xx Edited 18/2/18


	10. Called back into to the sporting game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've been absent for a while, real life always gets in the way but to compensate here is a whooper of a chapter over 5000 words I think thats a record for me! Enjoy and let me know what you lovely people think

  
Called back into to the sporting games

The frosty air in the car was enough even to make a penguin feel cold. You had decided not to continue fighting Seto on accompanying you to the agricultural college’s meeting. He had left you to phone the director of the college directly asking that he be included in the meeting as he was very interested in an intern programme for Kaiba corp with the college. You could not believe the arrogance of the man. If you presented him with a cow, he wouldn’t know what to do with it. You decided to let his infamous ego trip him up in the meeting. He would learn the hard way that this was your domain. The name Seto Kaiba may hold sway in most of Japan, after all, he was not given the title most powerful man in Japan for nothing, but you doubted it stretched this far.

You were driving away from the city, and gradually the houses and buildings gave way to trees and fields. You were currently in full blown passive aggressive mood. Seto had remained silent throughout the journey. When he did ask you anything, you replied in monosyllables. You were still annoyed that he had wedged himself into your meeting. All you could think of was how it would look to the other members in the conference. You had brought your boyfriend along because you were incapable of doing business alone! How could he not realise that's what it would be portrayed as. You were brought out of your self-absorbed pity party by the shrill ringing of your phone coming through the radio speakers. You aggressively hit the speaker button on the steering wheel. You barked out your name. You didn’t recognise the voice of the caller. “It’s DI Fagan, I was just at your office, and your secretary said that you were out of town today.”

“I assume you have news for me Detective Inspector?” you questioned

“I have but it's not good, we were unable to gather any forensics to point in the direction of a suspect for the explosion at the docks, may I extend my apologies.”

You gave a frustrated noise. “Thank you for the update Detective.” You finally said and ended the call. Seto shot you a sidelong glance but remained silent.

You continued to drive in silence until you spotted a sports car at the junction about to join the road. “Oh the cheeky bastard!” you exclaimed a wild feral grin on your face as you suddenly accelerated the car. Seto barked at you to explain yourself. “It’s Kairo, the cheeky baster.” You told him as the Lamborghini pulled out in front of you. You served to overtake him and blasted the horn.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” you heard Seto growl as you sped off into the distance.

“Just some friendly rival.” You said forgetting that you were meant to be still huffing with him.

“This is childish! Your friendly rivalry almost got us both killed!” He bellowed.

“No, I didn’t stop being melodramatic. I know what I’m doing.” You countered as you continued to drive at a crazy speed.

Seto was glad when he suddenly saw the ornate pillars ahead which was the entrance to the college.

You swung the car into a parking space. Closely followed by the Lamborghini that Kairo drove. Kairo bounced out towards you laughing and grabbed you tightly, pecking you on both cheeks. He ignored the growl emanating from Seto. He roughly grabbed your shoulder pulling you back to his side possessively. “Care to introduce us?” he growled at you.

“Mr Kaiba, Pleasure to meet you I’m Kairo Kurosawa Director of Kurosawa Industries.” He announced formally with a bow.

While this was occurring, you noticed that both your cars had gathered a small crowd of appreciative teenagers, inching closer to get a look. You called over to them. “If anything happens to these cars I’ll have your balls as earrings understand!”

You noticed Seto’s surprised glance before returning to the poised mask and heard Kairo's burst out a laugh at the threat. “Do you make the same threat with your employee’s?” he chuckled.

“Oh no, They get a lot worse.” You replied sweetly, mockingly. “I just know what agri students are like; we could come back to them wrapped in black plastic or something as idiotic as that.”

When you entered the meeting room, there was only one other person in the room. The director of the college who stood and formally greeted everyone. He then turned to Kaiba and announced that he was especially pleased to have Kaiba Corps interest in the venture. Kaiba replied coldly “that remains to be seen,” which caused the director to visibly pale.

For the following several hours the meeting dragged on it boiled down that in the previous year's many students had struggled to find work which was causing numbers at the college to drop. The college had hope that internships at prestigious companies may show that the college was an excellent choice for education establishment. However, this brainwave that was brought before the members in the meeting did not satisfy as everyone felt that before any company would think of setting up internships with the college a significant overhaul of the course syllabus needed to be done. The topics being taught no longer were up to date techniques or what any businesses were looking for in this modern age. It was as if time stood still where the education syllabus was concerned. You had scathingly torn apart the director of the college and the senior lecturers that tried to defend the curriculum for each subject. While you went on your triad of how lacking the syllabus, unbeknownst to you Seto had become increasingly aroused by watching you exert your power. He had never understood why he found it so stimulating when he watched you in full CEO mode especially when you were exercising your power. As you continued your triad and told them all in no uncertain terms how you would not be putting pen to paper until something changed, he found it took all his discipline to conceal how much he desired to take you at that moment. He tried to hold it together but for all the control he possessed, he was still a man, and at that moment his desires were clouding his mind and overtaking him. For all, he wanted to take you there on top of the boardroom table. He took a heavy inhale in through his nose. He stealthily placed his hand on your knee and gently slid his hand up your leg and stopped on the inside of your thigh. Thankfully at that time, everyone's attention had been diverted by another member in the meeting speaking. Without turning your head you took a sidelong glance at Seto, you saw the raw desire in his eyes for you and a small jolt of excitement ran up your spine. You placed your hand onto of his hand guided his hand higher putting a slight pressure so he could feel your pelvic bone. You had to admit that being somewhat dominant in a boardroom full of men had a powerful way of making you horny. You then released his hand and let your fingers ghost up his leg. While your face showed cold disdain for the speaker, your blood ran hot as you felt the undeniable bulge that was on the left side of Seto's trouser leg. When your fingers brushed against the bulge ever so slightly Kaiba straighten his posture marginally more and cleared his throat. He reached for his glass of water raising it to his lips to hide his smirk so only you could witness it.

  
The director had promised an overhaul of the teaching with a steering committee having been formed which consisted of you, Kairo and another CEO of a smaller company. Kairo was grumbling bitterly to you that being part of this steering committee would eat into his time. You had reached your cars; there was still few teenage car admirer loitering. You where rustling in your handbag and pulled out your keys. You let them fall from your hand. “Oh dear, how careless of me, Kairo.” You said as your toe pushed the keys ever so slightly under the car. Kaiba’s eyebrows knitted together at such a display of clumsiness. Kairo smirked, “I’ll get them for you.” When Kairo returned the keys to your hand “all clear. Thought you were out of these fucking sporting game?” he questioned

“So did I, it seems to pull me back from time to time.”

“I see, you know where to find me if the sport gets too hot for you to handle, Major,” Kairo said pecking you on the cheek in farewell. Kaiba growled as you were released. The green-eyed monster was waking up from his nap again.

You had barely been on the road for ten minutes when you noticed a black car in your rearview mirror with two men wearing sunglasses.

“Seto, You don’t have anyone following me?” you questioned sounding a lot more calm about the situation than your increasing heartbeat betrayed. He replied that he didn’t and asked why you would ask such a question. You told him about the car that you now were certain was tailing you. You quickly searched through your contacts for Stan. He picked up on the second ring “Ma’am?”

“Get me the details on plates Oscar Charlie Bravo 2 3 8,” you said trying to dampen down you fear as you started to feel the adrenaline flow through your veins. You could hear typing coming through the speakers for a few seconds the stan’s voice “ It’s registered as a silver estate owner reported the car stolen two days ago. Do you need assistance?”

“I don’t think there will be time for that, but yes the vehicle tracker will give the nearest security the position of the car. I’m going to try to lose them.” You said and cut him off as you sped up.   
You were now certain that the car was a tail as he started to match you turn for turn. You felt yourself get tenser waiting for them to make their move. Seto placed a hand on your thigh, “You’re doing well just keep going hopefully when we get to busier roads they will back off.”   
It was shortly after his statement that they made their move. You felt the back of the car give a tail flick as you were sure a bullet hit the car. It was followed quickly by another that hit the back window. Thankfully you had the foresight to take one of your cars that had been fitted with bulletproof glass as you saw the small cracks form from the impact but did not shatter the glass. You swore violently. Seto tightened his grip on your thigh in what you assumed was reassurance as he talked rapidly on his mobile trying to summon his security. You peeled his hand off his thigh and hitched your skirt up. You caught his surprised eyes as you revealed the gun that was strapped to your upper thigh. You growled that you hoped he was a good shot as he removed the gun from you and flicked the safety off. You felt the car lurch as another bullet made impact with the rear of your car. You continued to drive at breakneck speed weaving on the quiet road to ensure that it was a harder target to hit. You heard the crack of shots being fired, but none made contact with your vehicle.

"There’s a corner then a road up ahead I'm going to try and lose them by turning up it out of sight." You told Seto through clenched teeth. You could hear the thump of your heartbeat echo in your ears. "If they follow I'm going to do a handbrake turn. Try and shoot at their tyres."

‘My men are on their way." He told you sounding a lot calmer than you felt the situation deserved. You nodded as your gripped the wheel still tighter, you tried to steady your breathing as you speed up to put more distance between you. You were surprised at how well the car was at keeping up with your foreign sports car. They had to be professionals. You managed to get enough distance to allow you to turn the corner and gave you precious seconds to turn onto the side road. You kept going in the hope they wouldn’t see the tail of your car turning. You could feel you breathing getting heavier. You didn’t think your body could deal with the amount of adrenaline follow through your veins for this prolonged amount of time. You kept glancing in the rearview mirror in the vain hope that the didn’t see the car turn. You cursed as you saw the black car turn in. “Seto, get ready with that gun. I hope to God you're as good as you think you are.” You said as Seto wound down the window and you dropped the car down to a low speed and knocked the car into first gear to begin the manoeuvre. You turned the wheel and pulled the handbrake exciting the manoeuvre perfectly speeding past as Seto sego of a volley of shots as you passed the black car. You were unsure if there was contact made. You continued and pulled back on to the main road. Your phone rang, and you answered to discover it was Kaiba Corp. back up. They had set up a stinger a quarter of a mile up ahead of you. As they told you this, you saw the tail in your rearview again. You told them to be prepared to launch the stinger after you drove passed you were soon going to stop the bastards. You tore past the Kaiba corp SUV that was hidden in a layby and saw out of the corner of your eye and man crouched down by a tree ready to deploy the stinger. "Keep driving" Seto barked as you momentarily let off on the accelerator at seeing the cavalry. You nodded your understanding as you then floored it once more. Kaiba turned in his seat to watch out the rearview mirror. You then realised that you were being flanked on both sides by two more SUVs. You continued to drive as you heard Seto tell you that the stinger had worked and the black car was unable to follow anymore. The security flanked you until they came to another quiet lay-by. You pulled in, and both you and Seto were transferred to the back of one of the SUVs. A security guard got into your sports car and took off. The other SUVs followed in case there was a second car in wait they would try and draw them out. The SUV, the two of you, where in took off towards Domino.

It was all a blur for you. You barely registered how you got from one car to another. You remember feeling the brush of Seto's hand across your chest and the scent of him as he reached around you to do your seatbelt after you had failed to respond to him demanding that you put it on. You closed your eyes tightly and opened them again, things were moving in slow motion you turned towards Seto his lips were moving, but you could not make out the words. You felt a tingle run up your spine, like an electric shock. You looked down at your hands they were shaking quite violently you willed them to stop, but they wouldn't comply. You felt the heaviness of Seto's suit jacket being placed around your shoulders; you breathed in the unique scent of his cologne and him. It would generally have comforted you. You felt the pull of his strong arms as they pulled you towards his side, you resisted him. You felt trapped you couldn’t breathe anymore. The walls of the vehicle were starting to close in on you. You didn’t register until your voice hit your ears, but you shouted to stop the car.

Fortunately, the car was close to a quiet lay-by, and the driver pulled into it. You tore out of the back of the car falling to your knees and violently vomiting. You continued to heave for quite some time. You felt a hand fall on to your back and felt a circular motion. You heaved until all that was coming up was bile. You unsteadily got to your feet, swaying a little. You saw a bottle thrust in front of your face. You to a mouthful of water a swished it around your mouth and spat it out to take away the taste of vomit. You then released how parched you felt. Then it was as if you had just tracked through the desert. You took great gulps of water. You lowered the bottle and gasped for breath. You looked up and saw Seto. You looked into his eyes, those deep pools held something, but you could not place what it was. IT was as if you could only see his eyes. You were drowning. You were drowning in the cerulean pools You then released that your body was feeling that strange feeling when the gravitational pull of the earth, the strange pull towards the ground as you felt the weakness travel up your legs. You waited to feel the kiss of the cold hard tarmac, but the last thing you registered was the feel of arms encircling you and the scent of Seto’s aftershave. The aftershave you bought him.

Seto held your limp body. He had grabbed you by the shoulders when he noticed you sway slightly on the spot. He hoisted you, so one arm was now under your knees and the other under your torso. Your head flopped backwards. He barked at Isono to open the back door. “Where to Sir? The hospital?”

“No, home and get Dr Kormu to meet us there.” He slid into the back seat he held you tight to his chest as Isono weaving in and out of traffic trying to shave seconds off the journey time. Your body began to tremble slightly, Seto would not have noticed accept you where still in his arms. He barked at Isono to hurry. He took a steady breath, trying to dampen the rising panic that was rising in his chest. He had debated with himself whether he should have prevented you going to the meeting today, you should have been resting and recovering from losing the child. He reasoned if he orchestrated to be with you in the meeting he could monitor your condition. He had not foreseen this; you had come through the shower of bullets unharmed. What had happened to cause this. There was no blood evident on your body.

The screech of the brakes as the car stopped at the front steps of the Kaiba mansion. Dr Kormu came rushing down the steps as Isono opens the car down. Seto all but growled protectively as the doctor reached out to check your pulse.

Once he had placed your still limp body on the bed was Dr Kormu allowed to perform his duties.

You saw a light, was it true that old cliche about seeing the light. It was hypnotising you wanted to reach out and touch it. All to soon it was gone and you were left in darkness. Then there was an annoying cold feel on your chest.

Kaiba normally would not pace with people looking however he had a large amount of pent up energy that needed to be expelled, if he didn’t pace up and down at the bottom of the king sized bed, he would surely punch someone and given the limited number of people in the room pacing was the saner option. Roland who was on guard at the door grew more concerned watching the pacing of his boss; he could count on one hand the number of times he had witnessed his boss this distressed.

The doctor cleared his throat requesting that something sweet such as fruit juice is brought up to the room. Isono left the room to fetch some. Kaiba continued his pacing. He felt like he was burning from the inside. It was guilt flowing through his mind. He should have instead, forced did whatever he could to have stopped her from leaving the house. Why did he not do that? Why was he always such a fool were you were concerned and gave into you wanting to go back to work? The small groan that reached his ear had his head whipping at speed to look at you. His long legs carrying him to your side in milliseconds grasping your hand in a vice-like grip “I’m here, I’m here, wake up.” He pleaded again with a strange sense of Déjà vu washing over him.

You stirred eyes flickering open to see Seto’s concerned blue eyes come slowly into focus. You blinked several times to clear the fog from your eyes and pulled yourself up to rest against the headboard. You felt a cold glass being thrust into your hand “Drink this,” you complied mechanically, the sweetness of the fruit juice awakening you somehow.

Your head felt sluggish and your body heavy. The last thing you remembered was the car chase and then throwing up. It had happened you before you groaned at the memory “Did I have an adrenaline crash?”

Dr Kormu confirmed that you had a rather severe crash. He believed it was so severe as the afternoon exploits had triggered you PTSD. He had berated you very harshly for not taking his advice and resting. He had said that in your weakened state it had caused the crash to be greater. He had advised you once again rest.

“I can’t possibly rest Doctor I have a company to run, and there is a gala dinner that we must attend.” You pleaded.

“I’ll send our apologies tonight. You are going nowhere.” Seto growled.

You pouted at him “We will both lose face in front of everyone. People will think we are avoiding the event due to the rivalry between them and KC. You are going, and I will accompany you, we can leave early, but we must show our faces.” You saw in Seto’s face that your words had made sense to him. It would look like petty rivalry and like Seto was huffing if he did not turn up to the gala dinner to celebrate the success of the company. The other problem was if you didn’t attend either it would look like you did not wish the company every success. It was a delicate social tightrope you both had to walk.

Seto groaned knowing you where right. “I will make my decision tomorrow. It depends on your condition tomorrow. If you behave and take the doctors advice, we can go for half an hour show our faces and then go.”

“You're treating me like a child!” you said aghast

“No, I’m just worried you will exhaust yourself again.” He fired back. “Do you not agree, Doctor?”

The doctor turned crimson having been brought into the argument “I would like you to rest for at least another day.”

“Fine! I’ll ‘rest’, now get out, both of you if you expect me to rest!” you replied sarcastically temper fraying with each second that passed, and turned you back to them both.

xxx

Your eyes snapped open immediately. You lay very still in the dark trying to decipher why you had woken up on high alert. You heard the door open and seen the light flood through the door. Every nerve on in your body was on high alert ready to attack whoever it was that was trying to enter.

You heard the timid clearing of a throat “Ma’am, are you awake.” The voice was barely above a whisper you could see the maid standing in the doorway looking petrified. When you said that you where awake she told you that she was sent to check and to say that your head of security was in the mansion and was insisting on see you.

You groaned as you left the warmth of the bed. You had not realised how exhausted your body was until you asked it to comply. You debated whether you should get dressed or not. You decide that whatever that Stan wanted to see you bout would be short and then you could crawl back into bed. You grabbed you long kimono style royal blue silk dressing gown and wrapped it around your body.

You made your way down the staircase towards Seto’s study. You could hear the rumble of voices behind the closed door. You   
Would never normally eavesdrop but you couldn’t tell what in your gut made you stop outside the door to listen.

“PTSD! Why did no one tell me she had it!”

“Sir, it is up to her if she decided to tell you or not, she feels that it is one of her weaknesses to be exploited very few know about it.”

“What can I do, I feel so ..’ Seto’s voice was cut off in an aggravated growl.   
  
“There is nothing you can do just be there to support her and learn to understand when it occurs it I not her.”

You burst in through the door not caring anymore that you were in you night ware. In the room, there was Seto, Stan and Isono none of them ad the good sense to look guilty, as you looked at each one in turn. There was no doubt that they knew you knew what they had been discussing. You snapped irritably “whats so bloody important that you have to come here at one in the morning?” looking straight at Stan.

He looked you dead in the eye. He said your name and asked if you would sit down. You released then that whatever it was, it was going to be bad news, but then again no one ever gets good news at this time in the morning. You sat down on the chair opposite the desk meant for anyone meeting Seto in the study.

Stan gave a huge sigh, “I got a phone call this evening from Kairo, he was … worried, he called me after you asked him to check for a device under your car this afternoon. He wanted to know what was happening. I had to cut him off when your phone about the unidentified vehicle. Needless to say, he had been on the phone since demanding to know the situation.”

“That’s it?” your eyebrow rose incredulously “You woke me up to say that Kairo was worried about me? Come on Stan seriously I thought you could deal with Kairo on your own; in the past, you were able to handle him. Just tell him to watch his back for old ghosts the same as all the old team should be told.”

“That’s not all ma’am,” Stan said sombrely. He reached down and picked up a briefcase that was beside his legs and set it in front of you on the spot on Seto’s desk that was clear of paperwork. He entered his combination and clicked open the lock of the case. Before he opened the case, he said.”I personally….interviewed the two men in the car that were following you. It appears that due to there being a large number of teenage admirers of your car this afternoon they were unable to follow through with what they had been paid to do. However they had thought to make up for it by following you and shooting you, this was found in the car,” he opened the briefcase to show a package no larger than a small lunchbox. There were wires, and a circuitry board taped to it.

You cursed silently under your breathe. Your blood running cold and freezing in your veins.  
“I made sure to deactivate it ma’am but this car bomb was intended to be attached to your car this afternoon, the men’s orders were to tail you and detonate it when they saw Mr Kaiba exit the car.”

You sat silent for a long moment; you stared at the device that was meant to have been the weapon of your destruction. It looks so simply, but you knew how deadly it could be in the right hands. Eventually, you spoke, “Why have you not handed this over to the police to see if there is any forensic evidence to link this to the maker?”

There are a few concerning issues Ma’am. That’s why I came here before doing so to seek your advice.” Stan stated “I feel this may be an elaborate setup. Some of the wring and circuitry used to create the device I believe come from Kaiba Corporation.” Stan turned to Kaiba “Mr Kaiba can you confirm this if you look at them.”

Kaiba who had seated nodded to Stan who first passed him a pair of latex gloves which he put on and then set the briefcase in front of him. Seto studied the device for several tense minutes before closing the briefcase as if the item had offended him greatly. He took off the gloves with a snap and said in a harsh voice “The components are from Kaiba Corp. The old Kaiba Corp.” He stressed the old his anger gathering “Who would be able to get there hands on this stuff I ensured it was destroyed when I took over the company.”


	11. It’s time to be soldiers again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back sorry for the long wait of anyone who has be waiting. I just want to thank Wanderlust for some of her motivating comments to help me push on and continue with the story. big hugs everyone and by they way there is a tiny bit of smut in this one!

You were just finishing the final touches on your make up. You were wearing more makeup than you wished. However, you complexion was so ghostly pale you had no other option. Seto came out of the dressing room dressed in his tux; he was ravishing, your eyes followed him in the mirror. The small tug on his lips showed that he knew you were watching him. He came up behind you and looked into your eyes using the mirror. He snaked his arms around you. He kissed your neck and husked out “You look gorgeous tonight in that colour, I could take you right now.” He pulled away from you as a shiver ran down your spine. He pulled out of his pocket and placed a diamond encrusted necklace around your neck the centre diamond was a deep royal blue, the colour that was synonymous with Seto Kabia. 

It secretly pleased and annoyed you in equal measure that on nights like these Seto would expect you to wear something. It was usually jewellery or a specific dress that in some way would show his colours. It had annoyed you greatly at first, but you then realised it was because he was making a statement to the world, in a subtle way that you were his and his alone. 

The necklace was absolutely stunning when he finished securing the clasp it sat beautifully between your collarbones. Drawing the eye to your décolletage. It suited the floor-length navy gown that you had chose to wear. You asked him to fetch your navy heels from the closet. When you put them on you gained those precious few inches of hight needed, so you didn’t look as small beside Seto when the two of you stood side by side. Secretly Seto loved when you wore higher shoes; he didn’t know why but he just adored watching your legs in high heels the higher, the better in his option.

You were mildly surprised when you realised that you were taking the limousine to the event. You both preferred to drive yourselves. You slid into the back seat and Seto joined you. You slipped close up beside him; he silently laced his fingers through your hand. You looked down at your two hands joined. His hands were always slightly warmer than yours. 

“Thank you, Seto.” You said quietly

“For what?” he asked harshly turning to look at you. 

You shrugged, you didn’t know what made you say that “I guess for everything, for listening to me, for staying with me, I wouldn’t blame you if you left me with all this going on, I’ve put you and Mokuba in danger,” you sighed dejectedly 

He hushed you “Don’t talk such rubbish! Do you think I’m that shallow the first sign of trouble I would disappear on you?”

You closed your eyes and shook your head slowly; you felt Seto cupped your cheek with his hand and moved forward placing a tender kiss on your lips “I have chosen to be with you, and nothing stops me when I want something.”

You sighed “I don’t know what I would have done these last few days without you.” You settled against his side, he wrapped his arm around you and placed a kiss on your hairline. 

“Remember what I said we'd show our faces for an hour and then go.” You both sat together in silence the rest of the journey.

The hotel the gala was held at was lavishly dressed for the occasion. You let Seto get out of the limo first, and he extended his hand to assist you out of the car. You took a centring breath and made sure to plaster a smile on your face. The flashes of photographer camera going off as Dominos most powerful couple walked up to the hotel's entrance, the paparazzi calling out to you wanting you both to pose for photos. You felt Seto sweep you along his trademark scowl in place; you hadn’t the same luxury to scowl at the vulture's such double standards exist between what was expect of the two of you.

You let out your breath as the doors of the hotel closed on the wolves. You heard Seto whisper lowly “You alright?” you nodded slightly as your host and his wife came over to greet the two of you.  
You exchanged some banal pleasantries with the two of them, Seto remained silent throughout. 

Seto guided you away from the couple. You teetered on you ridiculously high heels as you walked away. Seto had an arm around your waist guiding you through the crowd. It didn’t take long for some businessmen to gather around you both. You lifted a pair of champagne flutes and passed one to Seto. You took a small sip and listened to the conversation that had turned to programming and computers. You had a slight understanding of the discussion, but computers did not hold your interest the way it did Setos. Your mind drifted, you became aware that someone who you had little acquaintance with had asked your opinion on an issue. You had apologised and asked him to repeat the question. He was asking if your recently acquired company Farmaxa, which developed software for the agriculture industry would be coming under the control of Kaiba Corporation due to their expertise in computing. You had scathingly ask what you had done to give him the impression that you would pass control of your newly acquired company to Kaiba Corporation. He had turned crimson at your tone and excused himself from the conversation. When they all had left your heard Seto’s chuckle silently, he leaned against your ear and gave you a clandestine kiss and whispered: “I love it when you're like this.” You turned sharply to see desire burning in his eyes. You turned to see his attention was aimed at a young man with dark hair and a dice earring sauntering in your direction.

“So Kaiba, finally I get to meet the woman that has melted your icicle of a heart. How lovely to meet you, my dear.” The man said reaching for your hand and placing a swift kiss on your hand. He held your eye contact for slightly longer than you deemed necessary. You pulled your hand away from his grip. You resisted the urge to wipe your hands. You felt Seto’s arm snake around your waist and pull you towards him possessively.

“What do you want Devlin?” Kaiba growled distaste clear on his face.

“Come now Kaiba, is that any way to talk to an old school chum, hn? How've things been, I’ve just come back from America, and this is the reception.” The man smirked, twisting a lock of his hair between his fingers, you could tell he was loving pushing Seto’s buttons. You could feel the coiled spring that was Seto's anger begin to tighten. You decided that you should step in to relieve the situation.

“Mr Devlin is it? Tell me what exactly do you do? I know all the influential business owners in Japan, and I am afraid I have never heard of you until now. Obviously, I think you over inflate your true value?”

The man grimaced slightly at your slight putdown. Once again Seto chortled at your putdowns “Hear that Devlin your still a nobody if my partner has never heard of you. Now get lost!” the man growled at Kaiba, and you could have sworn that you heard him mutter something about two assholes deserving one another. You would not have usually been so brutal, but your instincts told you he was not someone you wanted to entertain. 

In the distance, you saw the ambassador and his wife. You had been hoping to have an audience with him, but you had to admit the timing could be better you were not prepared for this, and you were not firing on all cylinders. You followed Seto as he turned you in the opposite direction. You where in the mists of a conversation with another group of people when you felt someone touch your elbow. You turned and was surprised to see Kairo. He pulled you slightly away from the couple that Seto was conversing with and asked in a hushed voice for you to come with him to the Prince suite. You where total confused, you asked him why and he stepped closer to you.

“Please Major. I insist you come and bring Kaiba if you must. You have five minutes.” He whispered harshly. You knew he was trying to control his temper. You turned your head to look at Seto he was still in conversation with the same couple, but you could tell his attention was diverted due to the two of you. You nodded your head slightly to Kairo and rejoined Seto. You weaved your arm through his and squeezed his forearm. The two of you managed to separate from the couple, and Seto growled lowly “What did Kairo want?” you were walking with Seto in the direction of the Prince suite. “I don’t know he wants us to meet him in the prince suite. That's all I know.” 

You saw Kairo waiting by the door of the Prince suite. He had a worried expression on his face. The hallway was deserted so you could freely speak. “What the hell Kairo with the secrecy act?”  
He hushed you which you didn’t take kindly to “Not out here.” Was all that he said before opening the door to the suite. 

When you entered you immediately wanted to back out of the room again you must have stepped back as you felt your back connect with Seto’s chest and you heard a soft humpf. You took a steadying breath and walked towards the table at the centre of the room. The men at the table all rose in greeting. You knew them as your old team, but they all were like you now, having created different lives for themselves when you all had been disbanded. There was Stan your head of security, Kairo who was now a company director, Konda who was now a special advisor otherwise know as a spad, to the ambassador and the embassy. The four of you were the only members left. Your anxiety rose in your chest seeing them all gathered together. 

In typically hot-headed Konda fashion he barked out “I thought this was a private meeting? Why is the civilian here Kairo?”

“Shut up Konda; I told you she wouldn’t come without him.” Kairo started back. “Anyway, we agreed this concerns Kaiba too.” 

You were rapidly losing your temper at the scene before you “Will you two stop! What the fuck is this all about? Why are you all here? Tell me now, or we are both leaving.” 

“Sorry, Major,” Kairo responded 

“And stop fucking calling me Major, I am no longer your commanding officer! We are no longer using our ranks.” You shrieked. There was a stunned silence following your outburst.

“Sorry, Maj… ah sorry.” Kairo responded demurely your eyebrow rising threateningly when he went to say your title again.

“Right I believe I asked what this little get together is all about.” You asked again as you walked across the room and took a seat at the table. Kaiba followed you and also took a seat. The men all then sat around the table also.

Kairo cleared his throat “It’s to do about your little problem. I thought after hearing what was happening we needed to call a meeting. Why did you not alert us earlier?”

“I am handling it myself!” you stressed through clenched teeth.

“I find that hard to believe given what Stan has been telling us.” Kairo snarked back. 

You turned on Stan who had the good sense to lower his eyes. You were about to give Stan a dressing down as your employee, but Seto’s voice bellowed out instead “You mean to say that you decided to tell everyone about what your boss has been going through. Where does your loyalty lie?” the silence that rang out in the room was deafening. Kando was the first to speak. 

“We all came together for the right reasons, but we should have been upfront with you about this. However, it can’t be helped now. I for one am sorry.” He slid a thin file in front of you. 

“This is the information we have all gathered in the time we had available.” You open the file up. “Are you one hundred percent certain that it is Cahill that is after you? None of the chatter or Intel has him being active again. This is someone new, someone, who by the looks of things has something definitely against you and possibly Mr Kaiba due to his weapons being used.”

Kaiba growled lowly “They are not my weapons, they were my fathers.” He spat the word out as if it was filth. 

“Either way if it gets out that the weapons were connected to Kaiba Corporations you and your company will be looked to for answers.”

“Enough.” You cried out at the argument that was about to unfold. “Now listen to me all of you. I am touched that you have decided to come together due to my little problem, but there was no need. I have made up several USB’s containing information that if leaked will be damaging to certain members of the government. I am due to have a meeting with a special advisor to the ambassador. I will tell him what will happen if my request for them to deal with Cahill and the threats will not be looked into. I have acquired Farmaxa which conveniently have had a long-standing agreement with the government to deliver the computer system that is the bases of all animal and public health issues. Through their own stupidity, Farmaxa and therefore as owner, me, owns both the licence and all the data contained on the system. I would totally be within my rights if I see fit to switch it off. Now I’m sure you all would agree how much havoc that could cause and they would not want that to happen.”

You looked around the room at the dumbfounded faces staring at you. The faces changed from stunned to in some faces mildly impressed. You took the silence to gather yourself. “Once again thanks for the consideration but I’m sure you’ll agree I have everything in hand.” You rose from the table, Seto following you as you exited the room. 

xxx

As soon as the door of the limo closed behind Seto, his lips were on yours. Like a famished man getting the first taste of food. You made out between him showering you with kisses him mutter phrases such as your beautiful, ingenious plan, so smart, your mine; nothing will happen to you. Your hands gently cupped his face, and you pulled away. “Seto, what brought this on?” you stared deep into his crystal clear eyes searching for answers. 

“You, it’s you, you have no idea how much I love you, you have outwitted everyone, me, your old team, and you single-handedly have the power to topple a government. Have you any idea how much of a turn on that is? And your all mine.” He husked into your ear. His voice pure silk. You melted at his words. His hands drifted up and squeezed your breasts. You moaned at his administrations as his lips crashed over yours. You could hardly think as you were flooded with pleasure. You leaned in tighter to his chest, and your hands grabbed at his shirt. You repeated his name in a whisper as if it was a mantra. You felt the bulge in his trousers as you lowered your hand and smirked. He let out a soft groan at the feel of you and murmured “That’s how much I want you right now.” 

You kissed his cheek gently, deep down you wanted him too so badly, but he was always so passionate and had a tendency to be so rough. You feared your body was not ready for him to be so physical with you. You raised your lips to his ear and gently nipped them “I’m sorry Seto, You can’t have me the way you want just yet.” His head turned so sharply at your words that he nearly cracked his head of you. 

“What!?” he barked accusingly. 

You lowered your eyes from his burning gaze “I don’t think my body is ready yet, I still feel so tender.” You whispered “If you want I can still…you know.” You ended lamely not being able to say that you would suck him off. You felt his two fingers raise your chin up. His honeyed voice rumble “You have nothing to apologise for; If you feel you’re not ready, I can wait.” You looked down at his crotch that seemed to contradict his words as you could see his erection straining against the fabric of his trousers. 

You silently folded on to the floor of the limo in front of his legs. Your hand reaching for his zip freeing his erection. You ran your fingernails gently along his shaft and heard the hiss above you. Your eyes cast down viewing his straining shaft “Tell me what you want me to do.” You whispered submissively.

You heard his voice bubble as he requested you pleasure him with your mouth. You place your left hand on his thigh, and with your right hand's fingernail gently trailed up the underside of his cock. You felt him stiffen further at this and you placed your right hand on his thigh gently digging into his flesh through the fabric of his trousers. You lowered your head and gently circled your tongue around his head, the tip of your tongue lapped at the slit as precum started to leak out. You then descended upon him and took in as much of his girth as you could. You started with a gentle pressure and a punishing slow movement up and down his length. At one staged you hummed contentedly and look up at him through your long lashes. His head was tilted back against the headrest, his eyes shut, nostrils flaring and his teeth biting down on his bottom lip a thin sheen of sweat covering his face in a glow. You continued to watch him as you increase the pressure on his cock. You heard above you a longing groan. You removed yourself from deep throating him and started lapping at his head again. Swirling your tongue around his head. Your eyes flicker up to his burning cobalt lust filled eyes. Electric shot down your spine. 

He groaned “Finish me off; I want you to deep throat me again hard.” He wantonly spoke. You marvelled at how you had reduced the most powerful man in Japan. You complied without hesitation and took in his whole girth again. He hissed in pleasure at the feel of you. His hands automatically going from trying to find purchase in the leather seating to your hair. His fingers painful found their way into your hair through a large number of pins keeping your hair up. As you moved quicker than before up and down his shaft, his hips start to thrust into your mouth his fingers tighten more in your hair his groans getting loud with each passing second. He cursed your name in a long moan. You felt him throb in your mouth as he forcefully came as he growled out your name. You swallowed what you could of him as his cock throbbed in your mouth, you gently sucked and licked him clean before rising from the floor. He lay against the seat his chest heaving, and his lips parted lightly panting. He looked across at you his eyes were still clouded with the pleasure you had just given him. 

A ghost of a smile on his lips he murmured “what did I do to deserve you?” 

You must have looked a sight your hair a mess, your make up smeared and your lips red and swollen from what you had just done. To Seto Kaiba, you looked like a Goddess. He reached over to the mini bar hidden in a side panel and handed you a bottle of water. You took a drink of the cool water and got rid of the salty taste of him from your mouth and throat. He gently took your chin in his hand and turned your face to him he produced a handkerchief from his jacket and dabbed at the corner of your mouth where a thin trickle of cum had escaped. “Was I too much for you tonight?” he asked cockily with a smirk. You didn’t give him an answer as he put his arm around your waist and pulled you closer to him. You leaned against his side and sighed contentedly. He placed small butterfly kisses on your crown and at your hairline. “Go to sleep; you must be exhausted.” He murmured in your ear. It was true that you felt your body start to lag. You hadn’t realised how tiring the gala had made you and your previous activity just aggravated matters. Your eyes fluttered trying stubbornly not to concede to sleep. The motion of the limo and the rhythmic rise and fall of Seto’s chest all lulled you gently into slumber. Seto watched with endearment on his face as you fought a losing battle with yourself. He gently brushed the stray hairs from your face and gently tightened his arm around you. He whispered quietly in your ear “You're my world, what I would not give for you.”


	12. Long is the night and silent is the vigil.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for anyone who is still sticking with this story and to everyone happy Easter!!

 

The noise in the room was deafening. There were cheerful laughter and happy chattering. It was a party after all, and the alcohol was following freely. You looked around the room a small smile on your face. There was a lot of people in the room. It had taken a large number of people to bring off operation Leghorn successfully. This was a celebration for a job well done. You looked down as a beer was thrust into your hand. You looked up to see Stan as he clapped you on the back. “Congratulations Captain, I believe there is talk of promotion for your work on the operation?” he looked expectantly at you. You replied that it was not confirmed yet. All of a sudden the room was clouded in smoke, and there was a deafening ringing in your ears. You were lying on your back something was lying on top of you. Your eyes tried to adjust there was a large amount of dust and smoke in the air. You pushed the debris from your body and tried to stand. You head spun, and you found it hard to breathe. You saw a body on the ground beside you covered in grey dust. Kneeling down you saw it was Stan. You moved the object around him and shouted at him if he could move. All around you, you could see bodies rise from the plumes of dust and smoke. The ringing in your ears was maddening, and your lungs felt like they were on fire. You doubled over as a coughing fit wracked your body. Stan still lay trapped.

You felt a person grab your shoulders and pull you away from Stan. You screamed that you couldn’t leave him. You looked back to where Stan lay and in his place was Seto. You screamed out to him tears streaming down your face. Your heart was breaking at the sight of his lifeless body buried under rubble. The mystery arms where pulling you away from him no matter how much you struggled. You screamed at the top of your lungs “Seto don’t leave me, Seto !!” you fought against the arms pulling you away.

“I’m here, for God’s sake wake up” You heard his voice, but your eyes were still on the lifeless form, it had to be a trick. “Wake up, now!” The hands that were on you were like a vice grip shaking you. You lashed out but couldn’t make contact. Your eyes snapped open your chest burning heaving heavily as you panted. Your body drenched in sweat. You still tried to fight the hold on your arms. You heard your name being called out “For God’s sake snap out of it. It’s me!” you then focused on the dark blue eyes hovering above you. The sidelight casting his worried face in shadows. “It’s me. I’m here; I’m here.” The relief that flooded your body at seeing him alive broke over you. It broke through the barrier of your emotion and warm hot tears flooded from your eyes as you sobbed. He gathered you into his arms and rocked you hushing and smoothing your hair. He cradled you and comforted you as one would a frightened child. Was that how he saw you? His mutterings were entering your thoughts “Nothing has happened… you’re ok. Hush.” The soothing, circular motion of his hand lulled you and you final where able to quell your tears.

You looked up into his face; you couldn’t decern what he thought as he looked down at you. He hid his turmoil well. You then realised that you were in your night clothes. The last thing you remembered was leaning against Seto in the limousine on the ride home.

As if reading your thoughts he spoke up. “I carried you up the stairs and changed you out of your dress.”

“How long have I been asleep?”

He sighed “Not long, only an hour and a half. You know every time I wake you from these nightmares I see the fear in your eyes, why won’t you talk to me?”

“Because you have your own demons to fight without me adding to them.” You mumbled struggling out of his hold.

“What? What are you talking about?” he asked confused.

“Do you think I don’t realise all those nights that you toss and turn, moaning, calling out. Most of the time I whisper to you that I’m with you, and you settle, but for the past few months, it hasn’t worked. Why would I burden you with my nightmare as well?” you challenged as you wriggled free from his grip. “Is it do as Seto Kaiba say but not what he does?”

He remained silent for a long time. The two of you having a silent starring match as you willed him to tell you why he would not return you the courtesy that he was asking for. You decided that it would be a cold day in hell before Seto would relent, so you turned on your heels marching into the closet and lifting the first nightdress that came to your hand. You stripped out of your sweat-soaked garment and stepped into the shower. It was refreshing as the water washed over you.

Stepping out you made to grab the towel to wrap around you. Instead, you were engulfed in white fluffiness as Seto wrapped you in a towel. Another towel was soon thrown over your hair. He roughly tousled your hair as he towel dried it. You stood demurely and let him. You had realised that he enjoyed taking care of people. He had been doing it all his life first with Mokuba, and it had now extended to you.

“Your very flushed, I think you have a slight fever.” He told you as the towel was removed from your hair and the back of his hand was placed on your forehead.

You tutted and told him not to be such a worrier. However, he persisted when you went to pull the sheets over you in bed. Out of nowhere, he produced a thermometer. “Open your mouth.” He demanded

“No!” you said and quickly clamped your mouth closed.

“I’m sure you're aware there are other places I can stick this it’s entirely up to you.” He mused innocently

“I’d like to see you try.” You muttered and willingly accepted the thermometer under your tongue. Seto disappeared into the bathroom and returned with a glass of water and several white pills in the palm of his hand. He placed the glass and pills on your nightstand and reached over to remove the thermometer from your mouth. He studied the thermometer closely “I knew it. 39 degrees, you have a fever, here take these.” He said handing you several pills.

“What are they?” you queried

“Poison! What do you think they are? They are you pain meds and paracetamol to bring down that fever.” He replied gruffly waiting for you to take them. You obstinately swallowed the tablets. “If that fever isn’t gone by morning the doctor is coming out for you again.” He called out while he left the thermometer back to the bathroom. You groaned you were beginning to think the doctor should take up residency in the Kaiba mansion due to the number of times he had to visit in recent days.   
  
When Seto lifted the covers as he slid back under the covers, you moved closer to him pressing against his side. “Thank you for looking after me.’ You mumbled softly. He lifted his arm over your body and pulled you closer to his side. You felt his breath as he exhaled deeply. “Your an idiot, did you expect me to let you suffer?”   
You were beginning to get drowsy you mumbled, “I like it when you take care of me.” You heard and felt his hum of acknowledgement as you closed your eyes. You where at that dangerous stage when you couldn’t tell what was in your head and what you said but you felt your lips move as you whispered as you drifted off into unconscious oblivion “I don’t want you to die because of me.”

You were unaware of the concerned wrinkles that appeared on Seto’s forehead as he stared down at you running over and over in his mind your confession. He had woken due to you frailing around in the bed and moaning in distress. He wondered where you inflicted with the same dreams as him only in reverse? He sighed deeply. He lifted his hand gently to stroke your hair repeatedly as he mulled over his thoughts. He felt you stir and glanced at the clock, you had barely slept an hour, you slurred out “I’m sorry I couldn’t be all you wanted, I’m sorry I lost your child.” You rolled over in your sleep out of Seto’s arms as he looked down at you due to your unknown confession to him. The wetness that touched his cheeks fell unbidden silently. He pulled the sheet over your bare shoulder and lay in silent watch at your sleeping form his heart aching for the loss you had both felt and for your pain in thinking you had disappointed him. How could you have disappointed him? What occurred was beyond your control? Did he make you feel that you had disappointed him? Also, he worried that this threat was still hanging over you, it wasn’t helping you manage your PTSD. Seto berated himself for being blind to it before. Since being told by Stan that you suffered from Post-traumatic stress, it all fell into place, how you would want to sit facing doors, how jumpy you would be in certain situations, how you didn't like being in large crowds, the nightmares, the panic attacks and the drinking. Without thinking he began begging for an apology from you. His whisper a velvet ripple. If you had been awake to hear his anguish that came flowing forward your heart would of broke in two. Seto was grateful for small mercies along with the pain medication that he gave you he had also added one of the sleeping pills that was prescribed to you, but where to stubborn to take. At least you where getting the rest that you needed. Seto kept his vigil over you until the pale silvery strings of daylight began to penetrate the window.

 


	13. Secrets and Sex

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anybody who actually reads these sorry for not updating sooner I have been unwell for sometime now and have very few answers from doctors so as you can guess I haven't been in the mood to write and edit my work. hugs xx

It was getting close to midnight. Seto was in his study trying and failing to wade through the new functional specifications for a new game design. Normally he would be able to get through the specs in record time but tonight was different. You had promised him when leaving that you would be an hour at most. He had wanted to go with you but was persuaded after a ferment argument that he would not be going with you. You had left over three hours ago. He had read the same paragraph over now several times. Every time he finished the sentence he glanced at the time on the computer screen. It was now midnight further down the hallway the chime of the large grandfather clock also confirmed the time. He unlocks his phone for the umpteenth time, no messages. He hit your number to leave yet another voicemail “Where are you? Phone me when you get this.” He set the phone back on the desk and dragged his hand through his hair. You were infuriating at times.

At five past midnight, he heard the front door slam shut. He was about to find out why you had not returned sooner when he saw your figure streak passed the open door. There was something in the way you walk past without acknowledging him that left him uneasy. He called out to you but you refused to stop, and he followed you. He reached the door of the bedroom just as it was clicking shut. His long legs carried him into the bathroom to discover you bent over the sink a red swirl circling the marble and going down the drain. Blood. His insides burned. “What happened? Answer me!” he growled out as you continued at the sink.   
“Leave me alone, Seto,” You growled out angrily. Your whole body was visibly shaking. 

Seto ignored the request and lifted your right hand to inspect it. Your knuckles where cut, dried blood covered the gem setting of your silver ring. Your hand was beginning to show bruising and the beginnings of swelling. Your left hand did not look much better. 

Seto remained silent as he inspected your hands. He pulled you out of the bathroom and pushed you to sit on the edge of the bed. He left and returned with a glass of whiskey and a first aid kit. 

You downed the whiskey, let the liquid warmth run down your throat, as Seto lifted your left hand first to tend to it. He gently wiped alcohol wipes over the cut knuckles, closing the more substantial cuts with steri-strips and covering the others with bandages. He then did the same with your right. Finally, he took a cooling pack and placed them on both hands to try and relieve the swelling.

When he finished, you had calmed down slightly with the medicinal help of the whiskey. He asked levelly “Are you going to tell me what happened tonight?”

You shook your head slowly “I was to meet with an embassy member, I was trying to appeal to him due to his position as high command on Cahill.’

"I don’t understand."

“The organisation has a hierarchy structure. I was meeting with one of their members. However, the meeting was interrupted.”

Your phone chimed into the silence that fell.   
Apologies for the interruption tonight.   
Meet 23:00 tomorrow   
You know where.

That night neither of you slept well. 

 

***

In the morning Seto rolled over to see you staring at him. You gently cupped his cheek and rubbed your thumb across his cheekbones. He leaned into your hand and kissed your outstretched palm. "I’m sorry Seto, I shouldn't have shut you out last night."

‘I’m just concerned about you.’ he whispered huskily.

“I know. It's just that … Forget it” You leaned forward for a swift kiss on his lips and pulled away. It was like a drop of water to a parched man; it seemed so long since you two had been intimate. It burned a fire deep within him not to have you, but he knew that he needed to wait until you where ready. However, that didn’t mean that he couldn’t have certain things until you where ready.

Seto snaked his hand into your hair and pulled you closer to him. He greedily took your mouth in a passionate kiss. His free hand cupped your left breast through the fabric of your nightdress, and his fingers rubbed against the nipple. You both drew apart to catch your breath. You moved closer to Seto and could feel the bulge of his growing erection against your thigh. At that moment you wanted to feel him so badly. You pushed him over and straddled him. You ground your hips against the growing bulge as you leaned over to claim his mouth. The friction made with your hips was maddening for Seto, he growled at the pleasure shooting through his body. Eventually, he had enough teasing and flipped you back onto your back. He had to be the one in control. He loomed over you with a wicked smirk, caging you between his arms. He trailed a hand down your body and ran his fingers delicately over your folds. Soft mewls escaped you; he gently moved his fingers in and out of you slowly, his pace torturous his fingers were coated in your wetness. Your body began to arch towards him with his speed, that delicate maddening pace, he was so gentle with you. Your face was flushed, as he continued his torture “Please Seto." You moaned wantonly.

He smirked darkly "Please what, darling?” 

"I need you. I want you now. Please." 

“You’re sure?” he asked once again for confirmation it was only a few days ago that you had refused due to the pain. You promised him you felt ready for him.

Seto positioned himself between your legs spreading them slightly wider. "I love it when you beg for me. I want to hear you say my name." He watched your face as he entered you for any signs of discomfort. He praised whatever god was out there that he had found you, you were beautiful like this. Mussed up and wanting him. You truly were all his. He moaned out at the pleasure of entering you “You are always so fucking tight for me,” He trailed kisses from the top of your neck to your shoulder. He had found that deliciously sensitive spot at the juncture of your neck and began to suck on it as he increased the rhythm of his thrusts. He listened to the small mewls of pleasure that he was drawing out of you. Each thrust was causing that strange mix of pleasure and pain. You had missed him. With each thrust you rose higher and higher until you knew you would reach the top of the wave and come crashing down. With each sound of pleasure that escaped you it increased his need for you. He increased the pace of his thrusting and was going deeper into you. Your hands on his back dug deeper into his skin. He had found that magical spot inside you hitting it repeatedly making you see starbursts in your vision. Causing you to cry out each time. He was getting closer to his release. He then heard the tell-tale sign of your breath hitching “Oh … Set…Seto, I’m so close. Harder.... please I need .... Seto." He continued to thrust harder into you to your increasing plea. “You're mine, you're all mine.” He leaned down and grunted darkly in your ear “that's my girl come for me, darling.” He watched your face as he continued his thrusting as passion overtook your body and it instinctively arched towards his. You moaned as the waves of pleasure rolled over you, drowning you. A subtle sheen of sweat covered your body. Seto followed you with his own release. He buried his head into the juncture of your neck as he rode it out. 

You lay together in the glow of what you had just done. You smirked and looked towards Seto trailing fingers through his damp hair “No wonder people go on about makeup sex.” Seto snorted. He leaned over and kissed your forehead “I wasn’t too rough with you? I tried to restrain myself, but your like my drug I just needed every bit of you.” You snuggled deeper into his chest “I had missed you, It felt wonderful, you could never hurt me.” 

***  
It was just past twelve when Kaiba entered the executive floor of Agri Care. Kaiba ignored Mai Valintine’s protest as he passed by her desk and opened your door. 

You were leaning back on your leather chair as you listened through the speakerphone. Several voices were talking over themselves. Your eyes were closed, and you were massaging your temples. “It is not rocket science gentlemen. I asked for the results to be delivered by today. Today has, and you are now saying that there is nothing to show for the amount of money I have pumped into the project. I am seriously thinking of pulling the whole thing.” You sighed “If I don’t see some semblance of a result by the end of the week consider yourselves looking for employment elsewhere.” You pressed a button to cut them off without explanation. 

You heaved another heavy sigh and rubbed your temples. Looking over at Seto. “Not that I'm complaining but why are you here?” 

“I thought we could have lunch together before the development meeting.” Seto said as he sauntered over to your desk, at seeing your nose wrinkle, he added: “ I’m not taking no for an answer since this threat has happened you have been losing weight, I’m concerned about you.”

“That’s rich coming from you.” You shot back “the man who lives on fresh air.”

Lunch had been quiet. Seto with your hand in his had walked a few streets down to a small Italian restaurant. Seto had picked out a Caesar salad, and you had a carbonara. He watched but did not comment on how little that you ate. It was not normal for you to have such a small appetite. It was another sign to Seto that no matter how much you claimed that everything was fine, Seto knew the stress of it was taking its toll. 

Seto’s mind was thinking back to the lunch when there was a discrete knock at the door. Mai Valentine entered the room and whispered in your ear. Seto saw a quick flash of terror in your eyes. You held up your hand to silence whoever was talking. “My apologies but, I have an emergency to attend to. While I’m gone, Mr Kaiba speaks with my voice.” you then got up and left the room. Kaiba silently raged you had made sure that he had to remain with the meeting. 

Seto had formulated a plan in mind. You had refused to tell him what had happened that you had been called away. You were also cagey about the secret meeting you were going to tonight.

So because of that, he was now sitting in his car in downtown Domino across from a dimly lit pub named “Mary Ann’s" the signal from your mobile phone had located you to here. Seto decided that he had to go in to investigate.


End file.
